Reply To: Training After Sick

#10084
Mark Raugust
Participant

Yup, as frustrating as it sounds listening to your body is all you can do. I have actually wound up racing the majority of my races over the years sick and on DayQuil. No one can tell you what your body can/cannot handle. What you need to focus on is that you are sleeping enough possibly even extra, and that you are staying extra extra hydrated. Over the counter cough and cold medicines dehydrate you in addition to normal dehydration from being sick so if you will be physically active you need to take extra steps to make sure you are drinking enough liquids. Some folks think that exercise can help boost your immunity or help clear congestion, but that hasn’t been backed up by a serious study yet. It’s important to not try to force your body to perform the way it normally does, you will be slower and more tired than normal but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. If your body wants to run slower or swim less time then do that, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in a cave once are on the mend. Once you are over the worst of it, it’s fine to start working out, just don’t kill yourself. The bigger risk is confusing other injuries with cold symptoms and ignoring them until it’s too late. Never ignore injuries. If you are over the worst of the cold it’s okay to get back to working out 🙂

-Mark
NTP Co-lead