Well, my motivations for writing about this topic are the fact that right now, I’m sitting at home, sick, taking a day off from work, and was just wondering if I should work out or not. I have a really bad cold and am congested in the chest, and I’m thinking that working out could either make me feel better or could make me feel worse. So which is it, should I work out or not while I’m sick?

Well, most people and fitness experts advise against working out vigorously when you’re sick, especially if you’ve got some sort of virus that elevates your body temperature or involves congestion, because your body is essentially already working overtime to try to combat the fact that your body is being assaulted by a virus, and working out only can aggravate the situation.

However, if you’re just getting over a cold, or you’re at the tail end of your flu or sickness, it may be to your benefit to do a light workout because this can actually help boost your immune system.

It is a well known fact that regular exercise actually can help increase one’s immune system and immune reactions to disease and illness simply because of the positive effects on both the physiological aspects of the body as well as the positive effects on the psychological mind, both of which can dramatically improve the health of your immune system.

So, use common sense, if you have a fever or are in the stage of sickness where you are feeling cold, then hot a lot, it is not wise to do a vigorous workout. In fact, your muscles may be a little more susceptible to being sore the next day or the very same day if you choose to do this because of the tendency to build up more lactic acid.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 at 11:23 am and is filed under Fitness Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.