Working out while ill is not productive

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Chimiskwew
Chimiskwew Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Give your body’s energy to healing. A few days of not working out will make no difference m. Working out while you are ill is likely not making you stronger since your body is already focusing on fighting an illness. And please don’t go to the gym or public place where others will become ill too. The bathrooms at gyms are so easy to spread sicknesses. You will get better much faster if you allow your body to 100% of its energy on fighting germs internally. So rest and be well.

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  • panda4153
    panda4153 Posts: 417 Member
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    I agree with not going to a public gym if you have a contagious illness with symptoms. I think that’s common courtesy. I tell my employees all the time to stay home if you are sick, rest and focus on getting better. However, I always work out when I have a cold or flu. For me it always helps me feel much better. I listen to my body and never over push myself. So it’s not as intense a workout as a normal day. Also, as another poster pointed out illness is not always that simple. There are many non g
    Contagious diseases that affect people, and exercise is actually good for. I know when my mom had cancer her doctors recommended she stay as active as she could. Thankfully she is cancer free now, but being able to exercise helped her not mentally and physically during that time. If you had seen her some days in the gym, you might have thought she was “sick” and should not be there, but she would not have had anything contagious or was a risk to others.

    I think it’s also important to point out that many contagious illnessss like colds and flu you are actually contagious before you experience symptoms, so those germs are spreading regardless. I try to focus on things I can control to prevent my own illness like always washing my hands, cleaning with bleach, and generally taking good care of myself to keep my immune system as healthy as possible.
  • DanyellMcGinnis
    DanyellMcGinnis Posts: 315 Member
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    Last time I had a cold, I was showing symptoms for three weeks. If I had not worked out, I probably would've gained 5 pounds, not to mention lost strength (not much, but some). I was not overly fatigued and even my doctor (I had my annual physical in the middle of this) said it was not in my lungs and thought it would be over soon. I did lighten up with the cardio some but my lifting wasn't really affected.

    Echoing others in the thread, however, I have a home gym and was not exposing anyone else to my germs. I agree it would not be fun to be in a public gym next to someone coughing all over the place.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I really think this is a subject where people need to balance caution and their knowledge of their own bodies. For example, I had a really bad cold around Thanksgiving. It's still lingering in terms of a cough and I'm not 100%. But I've been able to work out for weeks now (I even ran a marathon at the beginning of December). I took a few days off while my cold was at its worst, but then got back to it when I felt I was ready (and I was running outside, so I didn't have to factor in being contagious to others).

    When I'm contagious, I'll stay away from public workout facilities. When I'm feeling really ill, I won't work out. But I don't see the need to take weeks off if all I've got is some extra congestion and/or a cough.

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