As we head into the sniffles and sneezes of cold and flu season, I thought I would help you navigate when and whether it is a good idea to work out. When many get into their groove with exercise classes and training, they fear to stop when they should as they are worried about losing their momentum and progress.
WORKOUTS vs PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
First let’s look at the difference between a workout and physical activity:
A WORKOUT
requires significant effort and energy
we sweat
we breath heavily
we experience muscle burn during the workout
Examples: heavy strength training, interval training, HIIT, team sports, endurance workouts such as marathons.
The kind of workouts mentioned above cause stress to the body. When we are feeling 100%, our body can easily adapt to these stresses. It is this adaptation which makes us fitter and stronger.
A workout should be avoided if poorly as it is too much for the immune system and body to handle; it is already under stress fighting the illness.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
For this it is easier to give examples of non-strenuous physical activity.
walking
a slow bike ride
gentle yoga or pilates
tai chi
These kind of activities shouldn’t stress the body.
It is important that whatever you do, you should do it alone, or in your own home to stop the spread of the illness.
THE RULE OF THUMB: TYPE OF ILLNESS
There are some general rules which can help us decided whether a ‘workout’ would be wise.
If your illness is below the neck, or system-wide (fever, achy joints) then you should stop and rest.
If you are mildly poorly and the symptoms are above the neck (e.g. head cold, sore throat, mild head ache) some non-strenuous activity might actually help.
Listen to your body, if resting feels right, rest. If you have a little bit of energy and fancy doing something, try something gentle or reduce the intensity of your usual workout.
IMMUNITY AND EXERCISES
Exercise plays and important role in our immune health. As we can already see, some forms of exercise can stress our body. Advice suggests:
intense workouts should be limited to 3x a week.
we should aim to move daily - this kind of activity should be non-strenuous.
A little extra noteworthy advice, it has been found that people who workout are actually more inactive than people who don’t workout. The thought behind this is that people think when they have done an hours exercise, they need not do anything else all day.
It is important to keep moving as being sedentary (mostly inactive/ seated) is one of the biggest health risk factors in the world today. We are designed to move.
THE FINAL ’T'
No one knows your body like you, first of all trust your instincts. However, if in doubt, remember:
Below neck/ system wide - rest, hydrate and nourish your body.
Above the neck - non-strenuous physical activity or lower the intensity of your usual workout (e.g. reduce weights, increase rest time between exercises, reduce how many exercise sets you do).
Health is wealth. Look after your body, it’s the only on you’ve got. Give it some lovin’!
Kommentare