FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $99.99

Can You Still Workout If You Are Sick? True or False?

Written by:

Obi Obadike

Obi Obadike

Celebrity Fitness & Nutrition Expert, CFT, SFN, M.S. Founder & CEO – Ethical Inc.
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email

Can you still workout if you are sick? Most people know that a simple fitness workout of 30 minutes three to four times a week can increase your immunity by raising T-cells. And T-cells if you don’t know is one of the body’s first defenses against any type of infection. So, all our health goals should be to heighten our T-cells as much as possible.

Should You Exercise When You’re Sick?

But just because any moderate fitness workout helps you raise your immunity against any illness or infection doesn’t mean that if you are sick, you should workout. Does that make sense? Preventing yourself from getting sick because of a regular workout is different than exercising when you are sick. You should always refer to a doctor if you are sick if you need permission to do any type of fitness workout.

Neil Schachter, MD. “A medical director of Respiratory Care at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York states the following, “A neck check is a way to determine your level of activity during a respiratory illness.

If your symptoms are above the neck, including a sore throat, nasal congestion, sneezing, and tearing eyes then it is ok to exercise. If your symptoms are below the neck, such as coughing, body aches, fever, and fatigue, then it’s time to hang up the running shoes until these symptoms subside.”

What Dr Schachter is saying is that you have a small cold like the sniffles, a small cough, runny nose, or some small sneezing you should be ok to workout. But if you have a severe fever, bronchitis, severe body aches, severe fever, or flu then it is not advisable to any type of fitness workout whatsoever. It is better to wait until those symptoms subside.

“You should always refer to your personal doctor if you are sick and you need permission to do any type of fitness workout” – Celebrity Fitness & Nutrition Expert Obi Obadike

One of the general rules of thumb is any mild to moderate fitness workout will help heighten your immunity. But if you are an elite athlete who is doing a workout that is extreme like in nature that will drain your immune system.

Extreme like nature example is like a 2 hour + plus type of workout. Always listen to your body in terms of when you should do a workout or give yourself a break. Your body will always give you signals, and it is your job to listen to those signals.

 And if you listen and trust those signals and act based on what you feel it only will help your overall health and wellness. Remember we want to burn calories but also feel the health benefits of it. Without the feeling that we over did it because we didn’t recognize we were sick.

An high intensity type of exercise will only make your sickness worse especially if your sickness is beyond mild. So, listen to how your body feels as well as checking your heart rate and blood pressure to make sure your vital signs are normal. Remember is it is difficult to lose weight when you are sick.

If you have any interest in trying any of our Ethical Supplement products to help you heighten your immune system or assist you with your fitness, weight loss or health goals. You can go to https://offer.ethicalinc.com/suppressant-offer/

Reference

Web MD- Reference in regards to Dr Schacter’s quote-

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/exercising-when-sick

More great content you may like

More great content you may like

Before you finish your last lap...

Don’t miss any of our great newsletters.