When To Rest, When To Push
By Wendy
I got sick last month. Really sick, like go to urgent care and leave with four prescriptions sick. I spent close to a week laying on the couch and am now thoroughly caught up on all of the iterations of the Real Housewives franchises (how is Phadera so crazy? Is Camille high?). I’m finally finishing my antibiotics and steroids but am still coughing and weezing. It, obviously, has been a while since my last workout.
I’m hoping that I’ll be up for a workout soon, but I confess that I am nervous. I feel like I’ve lost all the fitness I had this summer and early fall. I’m not sure how much to push myself. I wonder if I should wait until I’m 100% better to start or if I can get to, say, 75% and at least get moving a little bit.
We had our first snowfall this week and it feels like winter has begun in earnest so I want to get going before things get really cold. Last winter was bad for me, training wise, and I gained back all the weight I lost in the fall. I don’t want that to happen again. But I also don’t want to get sick again.
How do you decided when to rest and when to push yourself? What are your sick workout guidelines?
December 6th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Wendy … I’m so sorry you have been so sick. I had four straight weeks last month of sick kids. Regardless, I get what you are saying and I have been in your place of fear more than once. Usually I blow it. However, my personal rule with illness and exercise is if I can do it without getting sicker then, do it. Say I have a migraine or a pounding sinus headache, any elevation in blood pressure will make me feel worse. If I am on the better side of a short cold, I say, walk on the treadmill with it elevated. Do something to raise your heart-rate and get your blood pumping, get oxygen to your muscles and cells and help flush out the toxins and weeks of medications. Chances are, a little bit of movement will feel good and do wonders for the mental melancholy.
Listen to your body, ease back into it, and you’ll be surprised at how soon you are back to your old workouts.
December 7th, 2010 at 8:14 am
My rule is: if it’s in your neck or head, go ahead (and work out); if it’s in your chest, give it a rest.
I doubt you’ve lost your pre-illness fitness level. Muscle memory is amazing! If I were you, I’d attempt to do about 75% of where you were before you got sick. So if you were running 4 10-minute miles, I’d do 3, or do 4 12.5 minute miles. That’ll give you a good baseline for where you are going forward. And of course, above all, listen to your body.
January 4th, 2011 at 5:43 am
I usually get bored easily and close the tab but i think you have a unique blog. Bravo !