The Truth About Exercising When You’re Sick or Hurt

It happens to the best of us. Despite eating right, exercising regularly, and being the happiest person in most rooms–we can get sick. Nasty viruses and flus go around, and they’ll find you eventually, and they hit hard.

And what then? Do we stop? Give in and let it have its way with us? While that might be how you feel at that point in time, turns out for some symptoms and sicknesses there’s nothing wrong with continuing your regular exercise routine.

Keeping to your routine can be hard enough as it is, when you’re sick it just becomes impossible, you feel horrible, you have no energy, and you don’t want to look like a zombie around the other members–you might scare them off. An article at Huffington Post has actually pointed out that?you have options here, there’s no need to be a?couch potato the whole time:

You Feel a Cold Coming On

If you have mostly ?head symptoms? like a scratchy throat, mild headache or runny nose, you can likely go ahead with your workout with a few adjustments, says Dr. Kristine Arthur, internal medicine physician with Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, Calif.

?Avoid strenuous activities like sprints, a marathon, boot camp or heavy lifting,? she says. ?Heavy exercise while sick can strain your heart.?

If you normally run, consider a light jog or brisk walk, preferably indoors during cold weather. ?Pilates and yoga are usually fine, but avoid hot yoga, as you may become overheated,? Arthur says.

Read the rest of the article to find out if you should be able to continue, or perhaps get to the doctor instead. In the end, you’re still going to need more motivation to pull yourself into workout mode, but at least you don’t need to feel worried that you’re harming your body.