Posted on 12/28/2008 11:01:49 AM PST by BenLurkin
Research shows exercise is a great way to boost your immunity and stay healthy, but what happens if you get sick?
Should you stay away from the gym if you're feeling a bit under the weather or is it okay to sweat out the sickness?
If you are trying to fight through a bad infection, it generally is a really bad idea, according to CBS station KCNC-TV's medical reporter Dave Hnida. But for not-so-serious bugs -- or if you are well on the road to recovery -- a little workout is probably not going to be harmful.
Hnida recommends following the "rule of the neck."
Divide your symptoms into those above the neck and those below the neck. If you don't feel too bad and all you've got is a stuffy head, runny nose or a scratchy throat -- a little workout might be OK.
But if your symptoms are mainly below the neck -- like fever and muscle aches, a cough or an upset stomach -- you need to stay on the sidelines.
If you ultimately decide that things aren't so bad and you will exercise, you still don't want to go full speed. Work your way back slowly. Walk and stretch to see if your body is ready for a workout.
Doctors say it can take 2 weeks or so after some infections to fully recover.
I noticed that when I had a cold during high school. Weight training class would clear my breathing for a little while. Then I think by next period, I felt crappy again.
But please, if you’re working out at a gym with a cold, look for those spray bottles of disinfectant and wash down the machine! I wait until my discharge is clear and I just have that annoying chronic cough and then I go. I caught a bad cold from my granddaughter and also fell and bruised my ribs on the same day and it kept me out of training for a month. I’m just now getting back in the swing.
That is because during exercise the body produces adrenaline, which happens to be a natural decongestant.
Sauna or steam, maybe a massage, soak in the jacuzzi chased by some bourbon, honey and lemon and lots of sleep is best cure in my old age now. PT & six mile shuffle did work as well when active duty. Yet that was not as much a choice for me as it was my NCO’s. But the exercise did work the illness out faster for me. Even the flu was afraid of my NCO’s !
Exercising when sick is more often than not a good idea. Doctors overprescribe bed rest because it’s the safest course in terms of legal liability, not because it seems best for the patient.
Good advice. Give everybody at the gyms your gross germs.
Fine, work out all you want, but don’t take your virus to a gym.
It's a good idea to tell your doctor you want an rx for Augmentin. An anti pneumonial drug mixture. When you bust ribs, you will have pneumonia from blood.
It's Amoxicillin Trihydrate and Potassium Clavulnate-an acid. While there don't forget to ask for hydrocodone because those ribs will hurt in 4 days. When there, buy a cheap cough syrup that says expectorant on it. You aren't done shopping yet.
Then get some English Black tea from your local supermarket, along with a square bottle of Limoncino del Choistro from Sicily. That combination will make your body warm.
I’m an ACE trainer...not a good idea to exercise if you’re really feeling bad — for one thing, exercise can suppress the immune system temporarily and make things worse. Also, you do germ up the gym for others. But if you are on the road to recovery and past the infectious stage, go for it.
Exercising when sick is more often than not a good idea. Doctors overprescribe bed rest because its the safest course in terms of legal liability, not because it seems best for the patient.
There was bedrest prescriptions WAY before legal liability became an issue. Bedrest permits the body to slow down and heal.
I’m taking all that and went to the doc that week. Got exrayed. I’m much better now. Thanks.
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