Pilates guru Lisa Johnson helps sort out the "do I work out if I am sick" conundrum. Photo by lightkeeper/istockphoto.com
Good God I was sick last week. It was a simple cold, but it had me on my knees. By day two, I couldn’t even get out of bed to get the kid to the bus stop. (And thanks for the assist, Manly Man Husband!)
Since I have been on this work out kick for over six months, it felt really strange not to exercise. My energy was extraordinarily low and my body was all achy. Plus, I was pretty damn congested. Just the thought of cardio was laughable.
With cold and flu season just around the corner, I decided to ask Boston-based pilates guru Lisa Johnson, owner of Modern Pilates, for an assist for both me and my kick ass readers.
So, what’s the game plan for working out when you’re sick?
Lisa’s sage advice:
- If it’s a cold and you don’t feel too bad it’s ok to do a workout. Don’t expect it to be stellar. Think of it more as a placeholder until you feel better. Don’t do anything new or fancy and don’t try to push yourself too hard. If you start to feel really lousy just quit for the day and go home and rest.
- If you have the flu or you’re running a fever then by all means skip it. Your body is fighting a pretty bad infection. You need to rest so your body can do what it needs to do. Plus running a fever also means you could feel pretty light-headed and you don’t want to be lifting weights or running when you’re feeling dizzy.
- In either scenario, please do everyone else a favor and stay out of the gym. They are sweaty places with varying degrees of cleanliness and no matter how “careful” you think you’re being you’re really doing a disservice to your fellow members. It’s only a workout or two, you won’t balloon up a dress size or lose 50% of your strength. Just rest, recover and then go back at it!
I took Lisa’s advice. I dropped my training down from six days to four, and I kept it to one workout a day. I also stuck with weight training but didn’t push too hard and gave the cardio a break (cardio seems to wipe me out more). And while I feel some residual cold effects this week, I am indeed back at it!
Thanks, Lisa!
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