Exercising while sick

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jelleigh
jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all,

So I'm currently on week four/five of Stronglifts 5x5 and I've read that you should really really try to avoid skipping workouts. This weekend I was out of town and missed my 3rd workout if the week for last week. My plan was to hit the gym right after my flight gets home today, but I've picked up some cold over the weekend and have a fever and aching etc. I really don't want to miss two workouts in a row because I'm afraid I will lose progress, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to weight lifting while sick? I am feeling a bit weak right now but maybe working out would make me feel better? Any insight? Just boarding my flight now and will be home in about two hours.
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Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    Thirding the call for rest and recovery.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    In general, symptoms above the neck only mean you're probably ok to train through it. (Because it's likely just a cold.)
    However, consideration re spreading germs at the gym is a very good point. Also, expect lower distance/speed/reps/weight than normal, but doing *something* is ok. From personal experience, deadlifting with clogged up sinuses is horrendous! Or anything that involves bending over, but that might just be me. I had to skip 2 sessions a couple of weeks ago because I was so blocked up that I got dizzy if I moved my head too much!!

    Symptoms below the neck need proper rest - so aches, full-body fever, chesty cough etc.

    That was a rule we were given yeeeeears ago when doing 12 sessions a week for university level rowing, and really seems to work.
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
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    I've tried to push through sickness and"sweat it out" all it did was keep me sicker longer! Rest up,stay hydrated
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    My general rule of thumb is like this: If I'm too sick to go to work/school/whatever, I'm too sick to workout. Otherwise I usually try to do my workout. If I'm puking and have a fever, I'm not working or working out. If I have a cold, I'm probably doing both. Just use your best judgement. If you start your workout and things feel "bad" (warmups feel heavy, first set in the 5x5 feels like the fifth set, etc) then just stop and go rest. These are the types of situations where injuries can happen and trying to "push through" to save 1 day can lead to an injury that could cost you weeks or months of workouts. That being said, if I just feel a little under the weather, a workout sometimes helps me to feel much better. You really just have to use your best judgement and know when to stop if things are going worse then you expected.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    If you already have achy joints - then your body is under stress.

    You likely wouldn't have gotten a complete good workout anyway, which means it wouldn't have helped much in the fact of having several missed workouts.

    Just take the suggested deload so you can prevent getting overly soar and missing another future one.

    Also - great time to NOT diet, when body needs extra energy. Unless you have greatly slowed down daily activity.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
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    Hmm. I was quite far under my calorie goal yesterday despite eating entirely heavy fast food all day. (Airport food). I noticed an unusually high calorie burn considering the number of steps I took - my Fitbit allotted me 800 more calories but I only hit like under 6000 steps and I wasn't moving fast because I felt so rough. I read that having a temperature burns more calories - is my Fitbit smart enough to pick that up? Since my pulse will be running high? And if so, are those "real" numbers or inflated? I'm not feeling so much like eating more. Yesterday I did 1600 calories but didn't eat back the 800 allotted exercise calories from Fitbit
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    jelleigh wrote: »
    Hmm. I was quite far under my calorie goal yesterday despite eating entirely heavy fast food all day. (Airport food). I noticed an unusually high calorie burn considering the number of steps I took - my Fitbit allotted me 800 more calories but I only hit like under 6000 steps and I wasn't moving fast because I felt so rough. I read that having a temperature burns more calories - is my Fitbit smart enough to pick that up? Since my pulse will be running high? And if so, are those "real" numbers or inflated? I'm not feeling so much like eating more. Yesterday I did 1600 calories but didn't eat back the 800 allotted exercise calories from Fitbit

    Fitness devices are VERY VERY VERY bad at estimating how many calories you've actually burned. In a study conducted at Stanford (https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/05/fitness-trackers-accurately-measure-heart-rate-but-not-calories-burned.html) the most acurate tracker had a margin of error of 27% and the worst was off by over 90 percent!. Fitness devices are good at tracking steps, pretty good at tracking heart rate, and downright awful at tracking calories burned.
  • dcglobalgirl
    dcglobalgirl Posts: 207 Member
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    cs2thecox wrote: »
    In general, symptoms above the neck only mean you're probably ok to train through it. (Because it's likely just a cold.)
    However, consideration re spreading germs at the gym is a very good point. Also, expect lower distance/speed/reps/weight than normal, but doing *something* is ok. From personal experience, deadlifting with clogged up sinuses is horrendous! Or anything that involves bending over, but that might just be me. I had to skip 2 sessions a couple of weeks ago because I was so blocked up that I got dizzy if I moved my head too much!!

    Symptoms below the neck need proper rest - so aches, full-body fever, chesty cough etc.

    That was a rule we were given yeeeeears ago when doing 12 sessions a week for university level rowing, and really seems to work.

    So, does sore throat count as above or below the neck?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    jelleigh wrote: »
    Hmm. I was quite far under my calorie goal yesterday despite eating entirely heavy fast food all day. (Airport food). I noticed an unusually high calorie burn considering the number of steps I took - my Fitbit allotted me 800 more calories but I only hit like under 6000 steps and I wasn't moving fast because I felt so rough. I read that having a temperature burns more calories - is my Fitbit smart enough to pick that up? Since my pulse will be running high? And if so, are those "real" numbers or inflated? I'm not feeling so much like eating more. Yesterday I did 1600 calories but didn't eat back the 800 allotted exercise calories from Fitbit

    Your Fitbit likely did pickup on elevated HR, and applied HR-based calorie burn to big chunks of your day it might not normally.

    Problem is, that HR-based formula is for when HR goes up based on workload going up - that wasn't the case here - and points out exactly when HR-based will be inflated.

    Sick, dehydrated, overheated, stressed, ect.

    So while properly used Fitbit can be within 5% (despite study referenced where they were all at default values not used properly) - this is case where not correct.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    dcglobalgirl wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    In general, symptoms above the neck only mean you're probably ok to train through it. (Because it's likely just a cold.)
    However, consideration re spreading germs at the gym is a very good point. Also, expect lower distance/speed/reps/weight than normal, but doing *something* is ok. From personal experience, deadlifting with clogged up sinuses is horrendous! Or anything that involves bending over, but that might just be me. I had to skip 2 sessions a couple of weeks ago because I was so blocked up that I got dizzy if I moved my head too much!!

    Symptoms below the neck need proper rest - so aches, full-body fever, chesty cough etc.

    That was a rule we were given yeeeeears ago when doing 12 sessions a week for university level rowing, and really seems to work.

    So, does sore throat count as above or below the neck?

    Er... ;)
    If it's just a sore throat then I'd class it as "above" and just work out.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    whitpauly wrote: »
    I've tried to push through sickness and"sweat it out" all it did was keep me sicker longer! Rest up,stay hydrated

    This.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Good call everyone. Decided to rest it out and am feeling a lot better today. Might still try to hit the gym tonight but will see if I feel like I have the energy for it. Otherwise I will just resume my normal schedule tomorrow .



    Ok just want to clarify on the Fitbit thing - @vismal your link is showing how off the Fitbit numbers are and @heybales you're saying that study used default values (I'm assuming you mean it didn't plug in each person's stats?) which was why they got such an incorrect reading? Is that the summary?

    I know I shouldn't expect my Fitbit to give me some sort of scientifically accurate reading - I usually just use it as a guideline.
  • knowlestandy
    knowlestandy Posts: 10 Member
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    Jelleigh, I would have to say You made a good call. I've been told by my trainer in the past, that if I'm ill, as in, sore throat, your body aches, and you might have a fever(couldn't remember if You said You did or didn't after reading the replies) You will want to maybe lift a (and I know it may sound weird, but this is what he said.) maybe lift a gallon of water, 10-15 times, 2 times per arm, then maybe do some leg lifts while sitting on a chair, 10-15, 2-5 times per leg. He said this would get my heart moving, and still let my body feel like it was getting some sort of workout. But He also said NOT TO GO TO THE GYM! Like someone else said, Nobody wants to get sick...lol. bad enough that You have to be, no need to spread it...lol. But seriously...he said doing those two exercizes, then going and resting in a warm bath, maybe with some Mint & Eucalyptus bath salts, would help not only with your aches, but would help relax your body so You can rest good while sleeping, and in the morning feel better hopefully. I wish You the best of health to come, and have a great day...please try to take it easy while sick though hun...I know it's hard, but please, don't push yourself. Have a good day.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    cs2thecox wrote: »
    dcglobalgirl wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    In general, symptoms above the neck only mean you're probably ok to train through it. (Because it's likely just a cold.)
    However, consideration re spreading germs at the gym is a very good point. Also, expect lower distance/speed/reps/weight than normal, but doing *something* is ok. From personal experience, deadlifting with clogged up sinuses is horrendous! Or anything that involves bending over, but that might just be me. I had to skip 2 sessions a couple of weeks ago because I was so blocked up that I got dizzy if I moved my head too much!!

    Symptoms below the neck need proper rest - so aches, full-body fever, chesty cough etc.

    That was a rule we were given yeeeeears ago when doing 12 sessions a week for university level rowing, and really seems to work.

    So, does sore throat count as above or below the neck?

    Er... ;)
    If it's just a sore throat then I'd class it as "above" and just work out.

    Depends... If it's a tickle sore, above, If it's achy sore. below.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    vismal wrote: »
    jelleigh wrote: »
    Hmm. I was quite far under my calorie goal yesterday despite eating entirely heavy fast food all day. (Airport food). I noticed an unusually high calorie burn considering the number of steps I took - my Fitbit allotted me 800 more calories but I only hit like under 6000 steps and I wasn't moving fast because I felt so rough. I read that having a temperature burns more calories - is my Fitbit smart enough to pick that up? Since my pulse will be running high? And if so, are those "real" numbers or inflated? I'm not feeling so much like eating more. Yesterday I did 1600 calories but didn't eat back the 800 allotted exercise calories from Fitbit

    Fitness devices are VERY VERY VERY bad at estimating how many calories you've actually burned. In a study conducted at Stanford (https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/05/fitness-trackers-accurately-measure-heart-rate-but-not-calories-burned.html) the most acurate tracker had a margin of error of 27% and the worst was off by over 90 percent!. Fitness devices are good at tracking steps, pretty good at tracking heart rate, and downright awful at tracking calories burned.

    see I just read a posted study that said they were not good for tracking steps either...

    most under estimate based on that study.

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