Looking for advice: do you still exercise on days you feel sick?

Usually, yes. I do have times when I don't but they're rare. Truthfully today I'm feeling very down and just feel like wallowing in my misery so I'm taking a day off lifting. No big deal. It will be there tomorrow.

I exercise unless I’m really sick but I will wimp out of CrossFit on weekday mornings when I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. I need at least 7 good hours or I’m miserable for the entire day and my work really suffers. It’s just not worth it to force myself to get up to go to CrossFit if I’m not feeling rested enough. I miss a day or two each month due to lack of sleep. My dog always gets her walks no matter what though. If she doesn’t, she’s miserable and makes me miserable in return so I do ~12k steps regardless of how I’m feeling LOL

Are you getting enough rest?

It just depends. Most of the time I feel better if I get up and moving and get things flowing. But sometimes I have pushed through and halfway through a class or run I'm like this.... was a bad idea. Remember, exercise is a stress on the body. So if you are really sick, your body is trying to recover from the exercise and takes away resources that should be fighting the illness.

In general, I think it's good to try it and see what you feel like - but just take it light and easy, with the goal of keeping your body in motion. Maybe it's just not the day to go all out and tackle a personal record. It's not that you *can't* push through and do it, you probably can, it's just how much demand you want to put on your body. It's hard to hold back some days though! But it's okay.

If you need a rest day, take one. If you are fighting an illness, rest may be needed. But if it's just a low energy day, you may feel better if you just start. And then just go by how you feel.

I usually take a painkiller and try to push through, but often wonder if I'd get well faster if I just rested...

I find that when I skip workouts, I have less energy overall and become lethargic. So I do my best not to skip.
I feel bad more often than I feel good, so unless I am bedbound, I stick to my routine.

divcara wrote: »

It just depends. Most of the time I feel better if I get up and moving and get things flowing. But sometimes I have pushed through and halfway through a class or run I'm like this.... was a bad idea. Remember, exercise is a stress on the body. So if you are really sick, your body is trying to recover from the exercise and takes away resources that should be fighting the illness.

In general, I think it's good to try it and see what you feel like - but just take it light and easy, with the goal of keeping your body in motion. Maybe it's just not the day to go all out and tackle a personal record. It's not that you *can't* push through and do it, you probably can, it's just how much demand you want to put on your body. It's hard to hold back some days though! But it's okay.

If you need a rest day, take one. If you are fighting an illness, rest may be needed. But if it's just a low energy day, you may feel better if you just start. And then just go by how you feel.

This pretty much... I adopted a rule I came across that you ALWAYS start whatever session you have planned...if you still feel bad once you've started then stop but ALWAYS start. Ironically I've had some of my best sessions on days when I really didn't want to go the gym.

dr_russky wrote: »

Think more like you have low energy, a head-ache, and some light-headedness.

It depends.

I was feeling a little bit like that yesterday, with slight nausea.

I went for a 5K run and felt better after. Actually I started feeling better after about the first km, so I kept going.

But other days, I might only go for a short walk or light spin on my trainer.

I tend to take meds and go anyway. I'm a grump if i miss a scheduled workout, I feel really defeated.

I had a poor sleep last night but went to CrossFit this morning anyway. It was a bad idea. I was clumsy, bitchy, and weak. I think getting more rest and maybe going for a walk would have been better. Lesson learned.

emmies_123 wrote: »

I have exercised through stiff muscles (usually legs/back), stuffiness, light headache, mild queasiness, etc. Every time I did not want to, but I told myself I could at least start and can quit any time if I made a mistake in judgement. To date I have not had to stop my exercise, and have actually come out of routine feeling better than I did when I went in.

Depending on what type of exercise you're doing and where you're doing it, it is not always possible to safely stop in the middle of a workout if you feel bad. I've made plenty of these sorts of mistakes, and that realization tends to hit when I'm a few miles from home and can't get back easily. The most memorable times came at mile 6 of an 8 mile run and mile 10 of a 12 mile run. In both cases, I had to drag myself about half a mile to a mile, until I got to a place where my husband could pick me up, and I wasn't sure I could make it that distance without passing out.

It depends very much on what your symptoms are and what sort of workout you're doing. Running is my primary exercise. Dizziness, lightheadedness, and fever for me mean no running. Muscle stiffness can sometimes be improved by working out, as long as you are able to tell the difference between injury and stiffness from lack of use. Mild sinus congestion and things like that probably aren't going to stop me from running, unless it would make breathing difficult. Mild stomach discomfort is probably fine, unless I feel that there's a real chance of losing my breakfast somewhere on the trail. Fatigue depends on what seems to be causing it: if I had a bout of insomnia with no other symptoms, then I'll probably run, but if I can't explain why I'm tired, that's a big clue that I'm getting sick and should probably stay home.

For lifting weights at home, I'm willing to work through a lot more symptoms because it is easy and safe for me to stop if I feel bad. I'm still not willing to lift a heavy chunk of metal over my head if I feel like I might pass out, though.

Over time, you develop a pretty good sense of what symptoms are safe to work through and what are not. It does take quite a while to figure this out. I would absolutely not take the "I've never regretted a workout" advice. I have regretted workouts. I have put myself in potentially unsafe situations because I thought I could handle it. Don't do that. Listen to your body and err on the side of caution.

Listen to your body! Don’t push yourself too hard and do what you can until you feel better 💕