No one likes getting sick, but it’s especially annoying if you’re used to being active. Do you have to skip your workouts for every case of the sniffles?
Not necessarily, says UNC Health family medicine and sports medicine physician Lorenzo Spencer, MD.
“Illness doesn’t have to prevent you from being physically active, but you need to consider your symptoms,” he says.
We asked Dr. Spencer to explain when you can keep moving and when to take a break.
Don’t Exercise with These Symptoms
If you have a fever, defined as an oral temperature of 100.4 degrees in adults, you need to take the day off and rest.
“When you have a fever, your body is working overtime to try to fight this infection,” Dr. Spencer says. “It’s using more of the body’s water, which affects your hydration status. That’s a time to rest and drink plenty of fluids. If you’re normally drinking eight glasses of water, try to drink more or consider Pedialyte.”
Fevers tend to be accompanied by body pains and muscle aches, which are another reason to rest without further stressing your body.
“Once you’ve gone 24 hours without a fever, without using acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring the fever down, it’s reasonable to exercise or play in a game,” Dr. Spencer says. “If you’re going to be around others, then you might consider wearing a mask to protect them. But if an athlete has a fever Friday morning, I would not advise playing on Friday night.”
If you’re experiencing vomiting or diarrhea, exercise is a no-go. For one, you probably don’t want to be too far from the nearest bathroom, but you’re also losing a lot of water from your body via vomit and loose stools, so rest and focus on hydration.
If you have a respiratory infection that’s causing symptoms in your chest, do not exercise; exercising with respiratory symptoms puts more stress on a system that’s already working hard.
“If your chest feels tight, you’re having a productive cough with a lot of mucus, you’re shorter of breath than usual or you can feel ongoing palpitations in your heart, you should stop,” Dr. Spencer says. “Exercising with these symptoms can prolong your illness and put you at risk for heart issues, such as myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, and arrythmia.”
When It’s OK to Keep Moving
You can exercise if you don’t have a fever, nausea or diarrhea, or chest symptoms, but steer clear of high-intensity workouts.
“If your symptoms of a stuffy nose or a sore throat are mild, it’s fine to continue with light exercise, like an easy jog or a brisk walk, but high intensities will put the body under more stress,” Dr. Spencer says.
While mild to moderate exercise can help with symptom relief, you won’t be able to “sweat out your cold” or make your illness end more quickly, Dr. Spencer says.
“A virus is going to run its course, but when you have mild symptoms, it’s helpful to your respiratory system to keep things moving with hydration and light activity,” he says. “If you’re congested and don’t stay hydrated and active with some sort of movement—a short walk or some stretching—it can be more difficult for the mucus to keep moving out of your body.”
Listen to your body; it’s always OK to take a few days to rest and hydrate.
And if you’ll be around teammates or others at the gym, remember that you’re most contagious to others on the first day you have symptoms, even if they’re mild, and for as long as you have a fever.
Returning to Exercise After Illness
If you have to take a few days off from your exercise regimen, don’t go all-out as soon as you feel well again.
“It’s very important to do a slow return to activity,” Dr. Spencer says. “If you were running five miles a day before you were sick, don’t go right back to that. For the first week or so, start with just one to two miles a day to give your body time to get reacclimated.”
While you might be nervous about losing your training, pushing too hard too fast could hurt you in the long run. While your symptoms have eased, your body may be fatigued from fighting the infection, and exercising while fatigued increases your risk of injury.
On the flip side, if you were all too happy to skip the gym while you were sick, don’t wait too long before lacing up your sneakers again. In addition to boosting your mental health, regular movement can help lower your risk of catching the next bug that goes around.
“Exercise is an all-encompassing way to keep you healthy because it helps to build a strong immune system while preventing the development of high blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol,” Dr. Spencer says. “When you exercise, you’re doing something really good for your body.”
If you have questions about physical activity, talk to your doctor. If you need a doctor, find one near you.