Sick after a hard workout

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cskalaj
cskalaj Posts: 94 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm curious about something... I have a friend who says she pushed herself really hard at the gym on Friday and then over the weekend, she developed strep throat and got more sick than she's been in a LONG time. I know they say that regular exercise is supposed to boost your immunity and keep you healthier, but is it possible to push yourself too hard and overdo it, thereby lowering your body's defenses against illness?

I think strep throat takes a few days to fully develop, so I imagine she already had the bug in her system, but she obviously didn't know about it yet. Would it have been worse had she not gone to the gym? Is it irrelevant?

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  • crabbok
    crabbok Posts: 66 Member
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    When I was in the Army we'd run so hard that it would make me vomit afterward, but I never actually got "sick" from working out. I think what is more likely, is that your friend just happened to catch a cold and it happened to really set in that weekend. She may have even caught it from someone at the gym.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
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    I believe that when you're feeling fatigued your more prone to illness, just my viewpoint and with no medical science to back it up.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Irrelevant. She may have picked up a bug at the gym but working out didn't make her that kind of sick. I've come close to puking after sprinting hard for a finish line but you don't develop strep throat days later from working out.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
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    When I was in the Army we'd run so hard that it would make me vomit afterward, but I never actually got "sick" from working out. I think what is more likely, is that your friend just happened to catch a cold and it happened to really set in that weekend. She may have even caught it from someone at the gym.

    Agree with this.
  • Woomytron
    Woomytron Posts: 253 Member
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    I would say she picked up somewhere, only kinda sickness I had from working out was throwing up. That was when I was first started working out and was VERY VERY out of shape.
  • cskalaj
    cskalaj Posts: 94 Member
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    Sorry, I'm just getting back to this. I realize that she probably caught a bug somewhere, but that still doesn't answer my question as to whether her immune system was compromised from pushing too hard regardless of when or how she contracted the bug.

    Basically I'm wondering if there is anyone with medical knowledge that can back up what 714rah714 said about being more prone to illness if you feel fatigued. Also, if that IS the case, how do you know how hard is too hard to push yourself?

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