Should You Workout When You're Ill? • Russ Howe PTI

I’d rather poop a hedgehog than miss a workout, and you probably feel the same way, no?

So what happens when you get ill?

Some people say that you should push through it because it’ll help you recover faster by “sweating it out”, but others recommend taking a few days off until you feel back to your normal self.

Who is right? Let’s find out!

Can You Sweat Out A Cold?

No, you can not.

People often claim otherwise, but they are wrong.

It’s a myth which has been around since the early 1970s, when there wasn’t much research on this topic. Back then we thought sweat contained toxins, and therefore exercise could help rid you of your symptoms by pulling said toxins out of your body, but we now know that isn’t true (sweat is just water).

Exercise still releases endorphins regardless whether you’re ill or not, so this might temporarily lift your mood and make you feel Lego Movie awesome, but when those endorphins dissipate the illness remains.

Expected Impact On Performance

Notice the title of this article.

I didn’t ask “can you train”, I asked “should you train”.

The phrasing is important, because us gym-folk are stubborn motherfuckers, and if the question was “can you” then the answer would always be yes!

Heck, I’ve walked to the damn gym through a foot of snow.

So to quote Jurassic Park:

“We were so preoccupied with whether we could, we didn’t stop to think if we should.”

– Dr. Ian Malcolm

You see, although the biological process of building muscle is exactly the same regardless of illness, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to train hard enough to unlock those results.

And if we can’t create the necessary stimulus, what’s the fucking point?

The vast majority of people who train when they’re ill notice a massive drop in RPE (rate of perceived exertion), so they essentially “half ass” their workout, and the fact that they still trained now means it’ll take even longer for their body to recover from said illness.

Because underneath the surface of your skin, the body is already fighting a battle against whatever illness you’re suffering from like Rambo in a field of Vietcong, and us placing additional stress on our central nervous system by banging gym will slow down Rambo’s inevitable victory.

How To Tell If You’re “Too Ill” To Train

I recommend using the neck check system.

This came from a 1996 study published in the Journal of Athletic Training, where researchers would pinpoint the symptomatic area to determine whether you can still exercise without any issues. (1)

Below the neck (chest pains, coughing, shortness of breath, tightness, vomiting, etc).
Above the neck (sneezing, headache, etc).

If your symptoms are below the neck then you should avoid training at all costs. These type of symptoms would highly restrict your performance anyway, so it’s best to just rest.

Meanwhile, if your symptoms are above the neck you can probably still train but you’ll need to reduce your usual intensity.

And finally, it’s worth considering your fellow gym members. Nobody wants to be the inconsiderate cock-toboggan who wiped out the entire gym population with the flu (and by God we definitely don’t want another fucking lockdown!), so my advice is to wrap yourself up in a warm blanket, drink a bottle of classic red Lucozade (I grew up believing this stuff was “medicine” and the placebo effect means it still works on me as an adult), and post as many sad “rest day” memes to your social media profile as you can.