Yesterday, I woke up feeling pretty crummy. I had a swollen throat (which is different from a scratchy throat, an egg throat, or a swallowing-feels-like-knives-slicing-my-throat. You know what I mean.) Shortness of breath, which is something I’ve been dealing with more and more, convincing me I have congenital heart failure. Or something like that. And a terrible, hacking couch that makes me sound like a smoker with a two-pack-a-day habit. The cough also makes my chest feel like it’s going to explode. And a low-grade temperature, although I never really took my temperature but trust me, I felt hot.
I felt a little bit better after taking a hot shower and moving around, but I was still functioning at 75%. And I spent the entire day wondering whether or not I should exercise.
You see, I’m not addicted to exercise. (Yet?) I can make up a million excuses of why I can’t exercise. I’m tired. I have too much homework. I’m sick. I’m having women problems. I need to spend some quality time with my dog. Anything and everything.
After my 10-hour day, the only thing I wanted to do was go home, cuddle with my dog, and take a nap. I was exhausted, my eyes were burning (which made me believe the culprit for this sickness was allergies. Yay.), and just felt crummy. But I researched about it and came to a disappointing conclusion: it is OK to exercise while sick, while if you’re suffering from pain in your muscles or your back you can also get help from marrickville physio which specialize in this.
I knew beforehand that the rule of thumb is anything involving the head means you can exercise. Anything involving the chest means no. (And yes, you can exercise when you have cramps. But I never do. Because cramps hurt and make you feel horrible. The end.) And since I was feeling slightly better, and perhaps because I wanted to write a blog post on exercising while sick, I went for a run. (Side note: it’s also important to tone down the intensity when exercising while sick. Since my runs have the intensity of a knitting class, I decided to do a regular workout.)
I completed Week 6, Day 1 of Couch to 5K which was a horrible run. I got a side stitch almost immediately and only finished the intervals because my mom was running with me and giving me pep talks, such as “Unless you faint, puke, or die, keep running,” and “Stand up and finish what you started!” It took a lot for me not to punch her in the face.
The result was a fairly awful run which made me doubt that I will ever have a natural love for the sport, as I do for napping. (Which is a sport, because you burn calories while doing so. Fact.) I was happy I finished it, but it really made me feel worse. I think I pushed myself too much and I’ll probably do something much less strenuous tomorrow. (Like napping.)
What about you? What’s your rule of thumb for exercising while sick?
Sources: x and x
I much prefer napping to running too. Best advice I've gotten is trust your body. If you truly feel like it's not your day, don't run. An extra day off won't kill you. I also believe that if you lie around for 2 weeks, you aren't going to get better (but totally not what you are talking about). Get well soon, girl!
aww keep your head up! good thing you have that wonderful mom, sounds like she was a huge help 🙂
If I feel crummy, I don't work out. Otherwise, I feel like it just makes things worse. I skipped my work out on Tuesday because I felt like I was maybe catchign this bug that the barrister has. Instead i ate soup and sat on my couch. I felt much better the next day adn was able to run last night, so i think i made the right decision!
Don't over do it, lady! Careful w/ that chest cold!
I never work out if I feel crappy – you have much more discipline than I do! Take care of yourself, and get better soon! <3
Depends on how sick I am. If I have a headache, I try to work through it because sometimes it make me feel better. Scratchy throat and upset belly…different story. Hope you get to feeling better soon!
Favorite line: (And yes, you can exercise when you have cramps. But I never do. Because cramps hurt and make you feel horrible. The end.)
Stephany, I'm brimming with excitement that you are morphing your blog into a healthy living blog. I am the MOST unhealthy person I know. I haven't exercised regularly since LAST october 2009. Since oct 2009 I no longer speak to my work out buddy and have worked out maybe… twice? So I'm taking tiny tiny baby steps to being healthy again. Don't laugh but I mall walked for 1.5 hours 3 days last week. Ok, it's ok to laugh.
IN SHORT. Thanks for the motivation.
Good for you for getting out there and hope you're back to 100% soon!
I love Mama's advice…"unless you faint, puke, or die, keep running" and am totally going to use that to keep myself going! The pep talk I usually give myself came from a spin instructor who would always say, "finish hard, finish strong" and that's always a nice reminder to leave it all out there!
I've heard that exercise can actually make you feel better. However… give me my bed and some chicken noodle soup any day!
Um, sitting down and nursing a hot chocolate. That's how I handle sickness, right there.
I LIKE to exercise when I'm just a little sick or have cramps because it makes me feel better 🙂
When I'm sick, I don't do ANYTHING, much less exercise. You're a braver woman than I.
My rule of thumb: fever and/or antibiotics? I won't work out as it makes me feel worse. If it's just allergies/runny nose/sore throat I usually will give it a try but stop if it's too frustrating or not feeling quite right.
I hope you're feeling better!
I'm like you…if I'm not feeling close to 100 per cent, I won't want to go.
I've got a bit of a hacking cough at the moment, and if that gets any worse, I won't be happy.
When I'm sick, it's usually a pretty bad cold or flu which renders me completely useless and invalid for a few days; even cooking a meal is too hard, let alone exercise.
Bleh, I honestly never exercise when I'm not feeling well. (Unless it's something small like a mild headache or a little cough, in which case, I usually end up feeling better after a good workout!)
I hope you feel better soon!!
HAHAHAHA you crack me up! I have to really push myself to work out to begin with, but if I'm sick? Forget it.
When I feel sick, workouts are off-limits. I don't wanna feel worth afterward.
Get some rest and drink tea.
Hope you feel better! It's hard enough to really workout when you feel well, let alone when you feel crummy. I agree with the next day nap. It might be much needed. Hope you feel better soon!
My rule of thumb is that if I'm able to walk around or jump without getting dizzy or what not, then it's cool to workout..but I just make sure to listen to me body during so I don't overdo it. If in doubt, rest. Working out can possibly just make it worse and drag on the illness if you're not careful..
The thing is, you can exercise while sick, but it will probably make you feel worse! If I am sick I usually don't exercise unless I am training for something. I hope you are feeling better!