Cold and Flu season has well and truly arrived and with it the increased amount of people walking around spreading the love. Chances are that you’ll get some sort of cold or flu at some stage during the colder months.
Well apart from sharing your contagious germs with the gyms’ population there isn’t any real benefit to pushing through, in fact you’ll probably prolong the time you’re sick. On the plus side, the fitter you are the quicker you will get better, providing you do the right thing.
If you do feel like you’re coming down with something it’s not going to harm your progress by taking a couple of days off or at least begin by reducing your training volume, this is generally ok if it’s only a runny nose or slight cough. Any symptoms below the head should be taken a bit more seriously.
It’s time to avoid the gym when you start getting the full symptoms of the flu or worse, headaches, muscle aches, fever, chesty coughs and fatigue. There is absolutely no advantage in being a hard-ass and pushing through this, you’ll just make it worse. The last thing your body needs at this time is to spend its energy trying to recover from a gym session and fight off a virus at the same time.
You really need to listen to your body if in doubt stay out. Colds and Flu only usually hang around for about 10 days, even less if you’re happy to stay at home and rest. Be smart about it and you’ll be back in action quicker than you think.
What about your diet?
I don’t know about you but the last thing I want to eat when I’m feeling like death warmed up is five or six meals a day. You still need to eat but don’t force feed yourself, there’s nothing wrong with soups and bread if that’s all you can eat. What’s important is getting better, the faster this happens the faster you can get back on track. So, keep the fluids up, eat what you can but don’t force it and get plenty of rest.
Thanks for reading,
Schembri PT Team
info@schembript.com