This post comes to you from my sofa where I’ve been sleeping for the past few days to avoid giving my immunocompromised boyfriend the cold.
This is my life. I’m actually feeling fine now but my throat, as is common in those who talk for a living, is still sore and apparently I sound like a prehistoric creature when I breathe in the night.
#AlwaysSexy
So it seemed fitting that I should answer the age old question of exercising while ill.
Should you…?
You’ll see other blog posts tell you things like
“Don’t exercise with a fever” – good advice
“Don’t exercise if you are sick” – also good advice
“It’s ok to exercise if you have a runny nose and sore throat” – I’m sorry?! No.
Don’t exercise when you’re ill!
The truth, if you follow the link, is that while you may be ok to exercise it’s easy to pass this infection onto someone else and even if you don’t your performance suffers when you’re ill and the best thing to do is rest.
The best thing to do is rest
^^^^Yes, really.
I get that this is hard to do, it is, I know. The fear that once you stop you may never start again is present but lets be honest, if you go to the gym or a class and you give a half arsed effort because you’re too ill to give it your all, was it really worth going?
When you’re unwell your body needs fluids, it needs to rest and relax. It needs gentle walks in the fresh air – not warm stuffy gym class environments and squat jumps.
The longer you push it the longer it will take you to recover and the whole time you just feel terrible.
Not to mention the risk of passing on an infection to someone, misery loves company but if you’re ill and you pass it on that’s not cool dude.
So at the end of last week I cancelled my clients and stayed home (gutting to do this can I just say, but I did it anyway)
I watched TV, did some admin work, ate many an ice lolly and now – thankfully – it’s just that horrible gravely voice left behind that makes me sound like a 30 -a-day smoker.
The moral of the story is, when you are ill do everything you can to make it quick, easy to manage and easy to get over.
Have a duvet day
Watch some netflix
Drink plenty of tea
Sleep – ahh, the indulgence of daytime sleeping.
Don’t go to the gym. It’s ok to rest. Especially if you feel like crap.
Ainzlie
p.s – I teach my clients how to make fitness and health work for them – even when they’re ill. If you need more structure and guidance to stay strong, even when you’re ill, apply here.
