SICKNESS AND TRAINING DON'T GO HAND IN HAND

Can I go to the gym while having a sore throat? Sickness and training don't go hand in hand!

Injuries are not the only thing people in fitness have to consider. Especially when the weather gets colder, the body is much more sensitive to cooling down. 

So when the sickness appears, your brain starts juggling with one question...Should I stop?

We know that everyone has different experiences and personal advice. Therefore, please feel free to express your opinions after you read this.

Why not do the training when you're in sickness?

Yes, we are against lifting weights and similar hard training when you have a sore throat or other sicknesses.

Research from the Mayo Clinic through Laskowski (2014) offers the following recommendation: 

• Decrease the intensity of your exercise if sick 
• Decrease the duration of your routine if sick 
• Avoid exercise if you have a fever and/or have respiratory symptoms 

One reason "against physical activity" is that during a cold, the body is put into an alarm state. 

We are talking about raised metabolism, increased catabolic processes, and increased body temperature as a non-specific immune response that tries to create somewhat unfavorable conditions for the further progress of the infection.

All this consumes significantly more energy than in a normal, "healthy state," which additionally burdens the cardiovascular system. Let's not forget that the cardio system is responsible for providing tissues and organs with oxygen and nutrients in general. 

When we talk about a man/woman with excellent health, solid immunity, and not suffering from chronic diseases, all this can pass without significant problems; however, this is where the story begins.

A significant number of viruses otherwise associated with influenza and colds have a particular cardiotropic potential, meaning they "attack" the heart muscle to a greater or lesser extent. 

I put aside the famous Coxsackie virus, which even the birds on the branch know about, and which is currently "IN."

Therefore, some people will develop a mild, mostly asymptomatic form of myocarditis, which in extreme situations can be life-threatening. 

Let me clarify that bit more:

Consider the whole story mentioned above and the heart that has to increase the number of beats per minute and pump more strongly. Therefore the heart is at high revolutions and moving more towards the "red field on the speedometer. " 

And the body has the flu or something similar.

If you add to all that one intensive session in the gym, such as 120-130 kg from the bench at a heart rate of 120-130 or more, with breaks of 30 seconds to a minute, or cardio of 30 minutes or even less your heart can fail in a second! 

And no one will ever find out what actually happened to you.

In order not to scare and dramatize too much, I agree that the probability of something like this happening is relatively small, but the possibility exists.

Do you remember the cases from the press? 

A young football player, healthy, fit, without any ailments, maybe with a slight sneeze or a mild temperature, during training or a match, to the astonishment of his teammates, fell as if mowed down and lost his life. 

The club doctor did not discover anything beforehand (mostly little, practically nothing can be guessed about mild myocarditis except for almost non-existent symptoms: mild nausea, palpitations...).

How do you get from gym hunk to sickness that sunk you?

There are still those who rush out of a gym in warm, wet clothes and head home. If you are lucky, it can pass a couple of times without consequence. 

However, we all have some "weak points," including lack of sleep, irregular diet, fatigue, stress, cigarette consumption, etc. 

If you knew how crucial one moment is in that "seesaw," it would be more apparent that even ordinary situations like the ones mentioned above can weaken our organism and that viruses, which we all typically carry inside us, prevail. 

It may also be a common sore throat, but it disrupts daily functioning. 

Then another problem can develop, and the inflammation can spread to the rest of the airways. But, again, it may or may not, but who can guarantee that? 

Because everything depends on how well the organism is able to defend itself.

Another more painful thing is a urinary infection and, perhaps more often, prostate inflammation. Sudden cooling of the body, wearing wet clothes after training, or even sitting for a long time in those clothes, especially in the period we are in now, when spring and winter alternate on the same day, can easily lead to infection.

Wait a minute! Isn't exercising an immune booster itself?

We came to something called The 'Open Window' and Immune Function situation.

So, we understand that exercise boosts immunity. However, the 'Open Window' refers to a period where the immune system is down-regulated, thus increasing your risk of getting sick.

Meta-analysis shows that the intensity of your exercise can depress your immune function anywhere from 3 – 72 hours. This risk level intensifies if other exercise regimens are followed, which leads the athlete to the 'overtraining' syndrome and dramatically lowered immune response.

 

First, as always, prevention is key! 

Therefore, it is better to spend a few extra minutes and change clothes after training, cool down and go home than risk getting sick.

Second, take some immune supplements to help swiftly get past the symptoms.

Forget about being knocked out for days and waiting for hot sup in agony with fatigue, sore throat, runny nose, and body aches.

Imuno-X5 by Genius Nutrition® is a natural dietary powder supplement that will provide you with complete immunity support & antioxidant power.

Simply put, this supplement will give you a layer of prevention to ensure your immune system has the best defense against the virus in case of any exposure.

In the end...

Moderate Intensity Symptoms ABOVE neck (sore throat, sneezing, cough) OK, if you feel ok.

Symptoms BELOW neck (fever, muscle pain, chest congestion). Wait until symptoms resolve.

High-Intensity Symptoms ABOVE neck (sneezing, sore throat, cough) *Wait 3-4 days AFTER symptoms have resolved.

Symptoms BELOW neck (fever, muscle pain, chest congestion) *Take 2-4 weeks off AFTER symptoms have resolved.

How about running when in sickness?

Running leads to the creation of endorphins, hormones of happiness and health, so it's not wrong to run a little..But as we mentioned, this only applies to mild colds, like a sore throat. 

With weights, it's different... Just stay away and read a good book or see a movie.