Many people do ask the question “is it okay for me to have a workout session when I feel symptoms of cold or flu” Well it depends, the reason for this will be provided later. As we all know, exercises help us to be physical and health wisely fit. It also burst our immune system and helps us develop antibodies to fight against infections. Cold, in the other way, is an infection, so does that mean exercise can be effective in fighting against this infection? To properly answer this, there are two factors to consider if you want to have a workout session when you are feeling cold.
Do you feel any severe symptoms from the neck region up to your head? If your symptoms are mild, a less intense exercise can be appropriate. If you have a sore throat and even a running nose, less tense exercise can be effective. But in a case your experience severe symptoms in the lower part of your neck regions (abdomen) like high temperature, muscular or joint aches and pains. These are called systemic symptoms because they affect the whole body system in this case, a workout session is not advisable. You can take a day or two off until you feel much better.
Are there risks if you workout with a severe cold?
Yes, it can be dangerous, especially if you have a fever, this can prolong the illness and can lead to serious health complications. It can make you faint in some cases can even damage your heart. It is best if you take a break until you are perfectly okay to avoid causing problems to your health
How should you exercise after getting better?
Once you are over the symptoms of the cold such as fever, pain, aches, you can start your workout sessions again, but you need to do it gradually so that you won’t have to stress the body too much because it is just getting over the sickness. So, therefore, keep the exercise simple, and you can increase the intensity gradually. You can also adapt these following to your workout training sessions:
- Go 50 percent of your previous routine: You can reduce the limit and intensity of your workout training sessions by 50%. For example, If you used elliptical machines either for cardio training or to build some muscle part and you ride for 80 minutes normally, you can reduce it to 30 minutes. Also, it is important to pay attention to how your body feels.
- Always stay hydrated: Sickness often reduces the level of water content in the body and also exercise in its own sense also can lead to dehydration. So it would be best if you take a lot of fluid and water to reduce the effect of dehydration.
- Listen to your body: It is imperative to listen to how your body feels when involved in a workout session. If you noticed you are feeling tired, it is best you take a break. It is better to be tired than to be exhausted. Don’t go over your body threshold because you have an important goal you are targeting. You can always reach these goals later it is better than causing a permanent problem to your health.
