Illness and working out: the shoulds and shouldn'ts of exercising while sick

This may seem like an unseasonal topic to discuss in June, but I've recently witnessed a round of late-season colds, flus, and general ickiness amongst my clientele, so I decided to go ahead and do an entry on the subject.

The question of whether or not to workout while sick is a hotly debated one, and experts in the field of health and fitness often disagree on what's appropriate. I was interviewed for a newspaper article on this topic back in November, 2010, and when I gave my response to the question of "Is it ok to do light cardio when you have a low-grade fever" (my answer was "No, of course not!") the reporter seemed surprised and said "huh, that's exactly the opposite of what the other person I interviewed said." So....I guess I fall into the conservative camp on this particular issue.

My thoughts on working out while sick are very similar to my thoughts on working out while injured. I can sum up both with this statement:

It's much better to take two days off for recovery than to workout one day too soon and consequently have to take the next month off.

If you're under the weather and just dying for some "cleansing" movement, then I suggest a gentle yoga session, but not at the gym. Do yoga at home so that you don't expose the rest of us to your illness. This is actually a huge pet peeve of mine; it is never appropriate (or appreciated!) when you should up at the gym and cough your way through the locker room, weight room, pool, etc. Your 30 minute workout session just put about 200 other people at risk of missing valuable days at work and being able to care for their families. Don't be selfish- stay home!

That being said, I always assume that gym rats are selfish (sorry, it's the realist in me) so I clean off the gym machines before I workout on them, as well as after.

Bottom line is this: if you don't feel well, take a day or two off and concentrate on eating healing, whole foods as your "workout." Salud!