Dealing with the Sniffles

For the past week I've been dealing with a a case of the sniffles, and it gave me the idea to do a little research on the subject of exercising while being sick. Now I don't know about you, but in the past whenever I've come down with a cold, I've used it as an excuse to lay around feeling sorry for myself while watching old re-runs of Saved by the Bell.

Pictured: Zack Attack

If you've ever done any research on the subject, you'll know that exercising helps build up your body's immunity, in turn helping it to fight off colds, infections, etc... But what if you exercise while you're sick.

One bit of information I came across in my search, is the difference between moderately exercising versus high-stress exercising while being sick. Per WebMD:

"While immunity is boosted when you work out moderately, the opposite may be true for high-performance athletes, such as runners, swimmers, and other athletes that push their physical limits with intense training without sufficient recovery. For example, there's evidence of suppressed immunity during times of prolonged and intense exercise training with an increased number of upper respiratory infections."

Long story short, don't work your body too hard when you're sick.

Pictured: A Body Over-worked

As you can see from WebMD (a somewhat trusted source...), working out can be beneficial when you're sick so long as you do it in moderation. 

Now, by no means do I feel you should exercise if you've got a fever or are throwing up everywhere, but if you're debating skipping your workout because your nose is a little stuffy, then I say suck it up.

In the end, I decided to suck it up and push through my workouts for the week. Below are the results:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
2/13/2012	Climber	4	6 min  27 sec	60 sec	40
2/14/2012	Ladder	15	22 min  27sec	70 sec	120
2/15/2012	Pull-up	5	9 min 10 sec	60 sec	50
2/16/2012	REST
2/17/2012	Lunges	7	12 min 52 sec	60 sec	70
2/18/2012	Mix	6	10 min 46 sec	60 sec	60
2/19/2012	REST

I'll leave you all today with a quote from a well known author and historian, Thomas Fuller, I feel resonates with a lot of us that struggle to keep up a good workout regime:

"Health is not valued till sickness comes"

L&R,

Drew