Working out with a cold
I tried a juice diet for a couple of days starting this past Sunday. I drank cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, water, fat free milk, tea, and coffee. I also had three triscuit crackers at meal times to take the edge off.
Now the problem is that on Saturday I came down with a little bit of a cold. I wanted to workout so I could take advantage of the fat burning status the liquid diet put me in. But I also didn't want to make myself sicker.
What I ended up doing was 10 total minutes of cardio and drop sets of all my normal exercises instead of my three set circuit. I'm not sure if it worked but I wasn't miserable and I still feel the burn.
So here's a question, if you have a cold, how much exercise do you get? What do you do to keep from killing yourself?
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simple rule for working out with a cold
Jaustin,
I had the same dilemma a while back. As usual, you just get into the discipline and rythm of working out, and lo and behold, along comes a cold! P#sses me off.
So I checked with my doctor and , according to him, the rule is:
If you feel cold-like symptoms above chest-level upwards (in your throat and head, nose, etc) it's ok to work out - although a bit lighter than normal.
If it's in your chest - do nothing! stop working out and rest.
Been doing this for a while now, and I'm still here, so it seems to be good advice.
Working out with a Cold
One thing that I have found that always helps my sinuses is taking a yoga class when I have a cold. The inversions/handstands and bridge/backbend REALLY help to keep my nasal passages free and clear, and all of the stretching seems to take away any muscle ache that I had proir to going into the class. I feel at least 90% better afterward.
I've also done excercises such as eliptical, but I can't say that I had too much fun doing it while sick with a cold.
When I have a cold (like right now...)
I take it as a sign that my body and immune system are not 100% and I lay off the gym. I might do some ab work at home and stretch, but not the full routine. I fuel my body with plenty of healthy liquids and food. All of this helps me recover quickly.
hot liquids
If you heat up the liquids, especially lemon in water, it should help your sinuses a lot as well... to go the extra distance.