Should You Exercise When You Are Sick? A Guide on Exercising While Feeling ill.

Knowing whether or not you should exercise while sick isn't always that simple. It is somewhat based on your symptoms, the severity of your sickness, and the type of workout you are going to do. Here's the breakdown for you to help you decide best for your health.

Should You Work Out When You Are Sick?

The "neck rule" is a highly popular guideline on whether to work out. If your symptoms are "above the neck," you have what feels like a runny nose or sore throat. You're probably okay to exercise. If they're "below the neck"-chest congestion, stomach problems, that sort of thing-rest is best. That's according to Dr. Lori Solomon, chair of family medicine at New York Medical College, who says it's not quite that straightforward. Instead of where the symptoms are at, she advises to find out how they make one feel. If you feel rather drained, it's common sense to avoid the gym and recover instead.

To Take a Break

In some cases, there should be no exercise, due to the risk of potential exacerbation of symptoms of disease.

Fever: "A fever will decrease the strength of the muscles, affect mental processing, and also increase the risk for dehydration during exercise," notes Dr. Sarav Shah, a sports medicine specialist.

Contagious Illness: If you have something like the flu or COVID-19, then you should avoid public places to prevent other people from getting infected. According to the CDC, flu is contagious for up to seven days from the start of symptoms.

Heavy Tiredness: This is when you feel as though you are dying-another sign that your body has had enough and needs some rest. Exercising through heavy tiredness delays recovery because you are expending much energy that could have otherwise been used to combat an illness.

Any exertion can make your breast pain or shortness of breath worse, particularly if this is caused by a heart or lung problem. Dr. Solomon encourages you to seek medical attention if you develop wheezing, ankle swelling, or simply a general shortness of breath.

How to Exercise When You Are Sick

Once you are feeling better, apply these guidelines not to overexert yourself:

Start Slow: Scale down the intensity of exercising by half to enable your body to cope with the workout while still fighting the illness. Good options are yoga, Pilates, or walking.

Gradually Increase Intensity: In case low-intensity exercises are well tolerated, one can gradually build up to normal. According to Dr. Evelyn Balogun, it is always good to ease into the routine and not strain.

In general, when falling ill with something like the common cold or COVID-19, keep yourself indoors and do homework workouts or hit the backyard for exercise sessions to help prevent the spread of disease.

Hydrate Well: There is no worse feeling of dehydration when in a place where you badly need lots of energy such as being at the office. Have water before doing any session, during each session and after your finishing session while keeping away sweat-inducing activities until recovered.

Pay attention to your body: listen to what you are feeling before, during, and after exercise. If symptoms worsen or energy drops too low, don't push it.

When Is It Safe to Return to the Gym?

If you feel well enough to do little more than cough softly into your pillow, you should probably be fine going back to the gym. Just wait at least 24 hours since your fever's gone, and keep reading the CDC guidelines about any other illnesses, including COVID-19. If you still have a cough that's mildly annoying you, then you're usually okay to go back. However, if you are hacking up your lungs, or your nose won't quit running, then stay out longer.

The Bottom Line

You might still work out when you're feeling under the weather if it's a relatively mild day, but pains in your chest or high fevers mean it's time to stop. If you need to get moving again after that, ease back in slowly and don't feel obligated to rush into a public place again before you feel fully back up to par. And if you have a question, head on into the doctor for further recommendations.