During a recent illness, a friend of mine suggested that I should work out to alleviate my symptoms.
“You’ll sweat all of the sickness out of your body if you work out,” she said.
“That sounds completely insane,” I retorted.
“No,” she insisted, “call your doctor if you don’t believe me.”
So, I did. My doctor and I are on fairly friendly terms, though I only stop in once a year or so when I’ve got a particularly nasty illness. He tends to give good health advice, since he really wants to keep me out of his office for as long as possible.
Here’s the truth about working out while sick, and why a few urban myths about the practice tend to linger around.
1. Working out intensely is a bad idea. First of all, it’s complete myth that you can work a sickness out of your system. Illnesses are caused by viruses and bacteria, and they don’t really care whether you’re sweating or not. In fact, if your body is paying a lot of attention to rebuilding muscle and burning fat, it’ll turn attention away from fighting a virus. “Get plenty of rest,” my doctor insisted. “That’s like the first rule of being sick. Why do people still argue with that?”
2. Light workouts may not be a bad idea. Keeping the above tip in mind, light workouts really won’t do too much damage to your body. Light workouts keep the blood moving, and while their effect on sickness may be negligible during the illness itself, staying fairly active will keep your immune system working properly, so regular exercise is a good idea, and if you feel up to a light, light workout while sick, it probably won’t hurt you. Just stop when your body tells you to stop, don’t push yourself, and drink plenty of water while you work out. The key to keep in mind here is that you should listen to your body. It knows what it’s going up against much better than your brain does.
3. Working out while sick may make you feel better, which is why the urban myths are so persistent. My doctor says, “if you begin to feel better, and you’re an active person, the first thing you’ll do is go for a light workout. The thing is, you were already feeling better. Your sickness was pretty much over, and working out didn’t accelerate that process. People work out at the end of a sickness, then attribute their recovery to their workout plan, even though it didn’t have much to do with it. In your case, Phil, I’m all for anything that keeps you the hell out of the office, so just rest up and start a regular workout schedule when you feel better. And stop calling me on my cell phone. I have no idea how you got this number.” Thanks, doc.
Do you work out while sick? Post your thoughts and suggestions in our comments section below.
