Exercise Right After Illness

kathryn2130

I am at the tail end of a respiratory infection and cold. I so desperately want to go back to working out tomorrow but I am worried about overdoing right away and making myself sick all over again. I was wondering about just sticking to yoga or pilates for a week and then back to my aerobics the week after. Any thoughts on this?

MegaMooseEsq

I just got over a bug and am glad I took it easy. That said, you might not need a whole week off - maybe just do yoga/Pilates tomorrow and see how you feel the next day. You can gradually ramp things up or down depending on how you’re feeling.

SummerSkier

Watch your resting heart rate. That will tell you when you are starting to recover.

Azdak

You can always do low-level cardio too and see how it feels. I had a mild case of flu about a month ago. For almost two weeks after I returned to work, I still felt my lungs burning during workouts and endurance reduced. I cut back on everything but did not stop completely. Yesterday I felt “normal” for the first time in a month—and had the workout results to prove it. But that was partly due to the fact that I didn’t stop everything for the month. Be conservative and listen to your body.

spiriteagle99

If it was a cold, I would go back to low intensity aerobics this week. If it was flu, wait until you are really feeling healthy. I read something recently that said you can start exercising again when you are at 85% of normal.

FWIW, I have been dealing with a cold for the past two weeks. I managed to do 8 of my scheduled 10 runs. I just missed two days when I had a fever and arranged my rest days so I rested on the days I was coughing the worst. My runs weren't as intense as they would have been if I'd been healthy, but I was able to enjoy them.

Wilton111

Im trying to get back into eorking out after having manor back surgery over a year ago. So far i am limited to walking no weights, no yoga, no aerobis activity.