Exercise Right After Illness

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kathryn2130
kathryn2130 Posts: 13 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
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?

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  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    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
    SummerSkier Posts: 4,878 Member
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    Watch your resting heart rate. That will tell you when you are starting to recover.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    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
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,686 Member
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    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
    Wilton111 Posts: 8 Member
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    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.

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