How long after being sick.

[bigcommo]

Two different sicknesses two weeks in a row. I've missed two weeks of training and I'm not completely over it yet.

How long do some of you wait to get back at it after being sick.

Kids back in school, I guess this kind of goes with it.

thanks.

[Frontline]

There really is no set answer on this but I would wait until you know you can perform your normal routine without any problems. If you think your going to struggle because you still have symptoms, your better off staying away from the gym.

If you try to come back too soon you could prolong your sickness because your putting unneeded stress on your body whose immune system is already working over time. So worry about recovering first, then worry about getting back into your routine. A week or two away is not going to kill you.

Not to mention if your still coughing etc you risk spreading it to everyone else at the gym.

[Andrew.cook]

To offer an alternate point of view, I rarely take any time off, even when sick. It drives my wife nuts because she subscribes to the whole "you will prolong your sickness" camp, but I just don't find that to be true. People get colds, not a lot you can do about it. Allergies are another "sickness" that there is hardly a way to train around. So assuming that I'm not vomiting or losing body parts I think it is all up to personal preference as to whether you hit the gym or not. Aside from feeling under the weather I rarely experience any real loss of performance during a cold. For instance, I had a cold the past two weeks and I still managed to get out and put in 2-4 miles of running a day at a good pace, plus other work. If anything I actually felt better after having done so.

I will also say that I work out in my home gym and don't have those social concerns about whether I may infect someone else.

[Iced696]

Originally Posted by Andrew.cook

To offer an alternate point of view, I rarely take any time off, even when sick. It drives my wife nuts because she subscribes to the whole "you will prolong your sickness" camp, but I just don't find that to be true. People get colds, not a lot you can do about it. Allergies are another "sickness" that there is hardly a way to train around. So assuming that I'm not vomiting or losing body parts I think it is all up to personal preference as to whether you hit the gym or not. Aside from feeling under the weather I rarely experience any real loss of performance during a cold. For instance, I had a cold the past two weeks and I still managed to get out and put in 2-4 miles of running a day at a good pace, plus other work. If anything I actually felt better after having done so.

I will also say that I work out in my home gym and don't have those social concerns about whether I may infect someone else.

I totally agree. I have some of the most brutal allergies of anyone I have ever seen. Kenalog shots are bad for you but without them I am not even functional for several months out of the year and the Kenolog just cuts the edge off of it. I train around it, there's nothing that can be done. Same thing with a cold.

And my wife thinks the same way.

[Andrew.cook]

Originally Posted by Iced696

I totally agree. I have some of the most brutal allergies of anyone I have ever seen. Kenalog shots are bad for you but without them I am not even functional for several months out of the year and the Kenolog just cuts the edge off of it. I train around it, there's nothing that can be done. Same thing with a cold.

And my wife thinks the same way.

I think at some point you have to be honest with yourself and decide whether having the sniffles is an excuse to get out of training, or if it is a problem serious enough to stay in bed for. If I feel that going to the doctor would be a waste of time, then in my mind sitting out from the gym would be an excuse.

It is the same thing I tell my boy. Either you are sick enough to go to the doctor/hospital, or you are healthy enough to go to school. There isn't going to be a middle ground for him.

[iron_worker]

I can see both sides and I have done both.

I have trained when sick and *most* of the time it works out fine. Usually you wont' be up to your maximum performance but you can still move some weight around which is better then nothing.

On the other hand I have worked out when sick before and it does wear on your CNS and immune system. It broke my immune system down long enough for whatever it was to walk in and pretty much take control. Not fun.

So I would say if you've got a light head cold, go for it. You may want to keep it a touch on the lighter side. If you are aching and headache and whatnot then I would just leave it.

Just my 2 cents.


IronWorker

[MONSTAFACE]

i only went to the gym a like twice when i was sick but i went when it was going and once i did that i felt even better the next day. i just didnt try to go all crazy in the gym. i think everybody is different though

[widdoes2504]

Personally, unless I am physically unable to go to the gym I will be there. My workout will probably be lighter than normal but I feel better after slinging some iron around. Just my 2 cents.

[Andrew.cook]

Originally Posted by widdoes2504

Personally, unless I am physically unable to go to the gym I will be there. My workout will probably be lighter than normal but I feel better after slinging some iron around. Just my 2 cents.

See, and that is what I find too. That most of the time I actually feel better from a workout than worse.

[EricT]

Probably the most sensible recommendation I can give, despite what my personal habits sometimes are, is that if the symptoms are below the neck...don't work out. That would of course include a fever. Coughing is a no go, for instance. Body aches, etc. Of course vomiting. If you feel very week and sluggish that could be viewed as a below the neck symptom.

If it's just a "head cold" you can probably get away with working out. But what I would do is take a deliberate slow warmup and gauge how you are feeling as you build up the stress. If you feel worse and worse instead of better and better you may want to call it quits.

If you've been really sick then you need to wait at least until all your symptoms are gone. A week off because you have the flu ain't gonna kill you like Sleazy said...quite the opposite.

I learned my lessons playing games with illness and training.