Training While Sick? Do’s and Dont’s From a Doctor/Triathlete
Ah winter is here!
The cool crisp mornings. A blanket of snow on the ground (although not here in FL :(). It’s the perfect time to bundle up, get outdoors, and explore the world in all its wintertime glory.
But while you’re running trails or riding your bike, most of the population heads indoors. And you know what that means…
Cold and flu season
One of the most annoying things that can happen to an athlete (besides getting injured) is getting sick. You can’t train and do the activities you love. And despite our best efforts, we can’t always prevent it from happening.
If you do get sick, you start questioning everything.
Is this something I can train through?
Am I doing more harm than good?
It’s just a cough…I’m ok to keep training, right?
To help answer all your questions, my husband, Dr. Matt Vermeer, is here!
In this post, we’ll cover:
Guidelines for training while sick
Long-term effects if you don’t listen to your body
Using athletic devices to monitor health stats
His top tip for staying healthy during cold and flu season
*This post was created with info from our December Monthly Expert Webinar for paid subscribers. To get access to the live meetings and other amazing resources, upgrade your subscription today.
Can I train while I’m sick?
Matt has a very simple, easy-to-remember, rule of thumb.
If symptoms are above the neck, you can train (with caution). If symptoms are below the neck, it’s best to take the day off.
“Basically, the very easy rule of thumb is if symptoms are above the neck, you’re able to exercise. So that means if you have just a little congestion, a little sniffle, a bit of a sore throat, or some sinus pressure, all of those things say that you can still exercise,” Dr. Vermeer says.
However, the type of exercise matters. This is not the time to do a VO2 max workout, speed session, ect., but low, zone 2 exercise can be great during those times when you’re feeling a bit under the weather.
If your symptoms are below the neck, it’s best to take the day off entirely. “If you’re having other symptoms, like a fever or body aches, those are all signs that you’re better taking some time to give your body the rest it needs so it can help fight things off more effectively,” Dr. Vermeer says.
This is important for a few reasons. The first has to do with how the body responds to stress. Training is a stressor. Work/life balance can be a stressor. Being sick is also a stressor.
Your body doesn’t distinguish between the stress from training or the stress from being sick. It doesn’t care where the stress is coming from, and your body can only handle so much stress.
Secondly, when you’re sick, it’s not the time to try to gain fitness. This is why we train after all- to break down muscle, repair it, and get stronger. But while you’re sick, we don’t want the body focused on those things. Instead, we want the body to devote its full attention to getting you healthy and repairing the respiratory track, not getting more sick, Dr. Vermeer explains.
What happens if you overdo it?
“If you lower immunity even more by training through illness, you can end up with a secondary bacterial infection,” he says. “That’s how you end up with pneumonia instead of just a cold. And then instead of being out for a few days of training, you’re out for a few weeks of training while you recover from that.”
So, if you’re sick and not sure if you should train or not, follow the “above the neck rule.”
“With symptoms from the neck up, you’ve got a yellow light- train with caution. With below-the-neck symptoms, you’re better off letting your body recover.”- Dr. Vermeer
How do I know when I can start training again after being sick?
Let’s consider a hypothetical situation. You end up getting the flu during wintertime (Boo!) Typically, the symptoms last for four to six days.
Don’t consider training again until your fever is gone, without the use of fever-suppressants.
“So that’s not, ‘I don’t have a fever because I took Tylenol two hours ago, so I can go train.’ It’s, ‘I haven’t had to take Tylenol or ibuprofen for a day. My fever is gone. My energy levels are back.’ Then, you can start building back into a gradual return to training. Going for a walk is a good first step and seeing how your heart rate responds.”
Do monitor elevated heart rate during the recovery period.
This is where all your fun athletic gadgets can help! If you have a WHOOP or Garmin, you can gain some insights into how your body is recovering by looking at data like heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and recovery scores.
“I wear a WHOOP that gives me data about my overnight recovery. So, as soon as I see my heart rate variability coming back to normal, I know my body is getting back to a place where training is a more realistic thing,” Dr. Vermeer says.
“If my resting heart rate is still elevated, and my device is giving me bad recovery scores, I can pretty safely assume that my body is not ready to take on any significant training load. It’s just another way to incorporate the technology we all have.”
Do pay attention to RPE (rate of perceived exertion).
When you’re recovering from being sick, everything is going to feel much harder. So, go for a light jog and assess your RPE. Does it feel significantly harder than normal? If so, maybe you’re not ready to jump back into heavier training just yet. Give it another day or two.
How long does it take to recover from being sick?
Matt recalls his first-go round with COVID and how his devices actually knew he was getting sick even before symptoms appeared.
“My heart rate variability dropped one morning. I was like huh, that’s weird. I didn’t think much of it. Probably 12 hours later, symptoms hit. So my device kind of knew before I did because my body had given it signals,” he says.
During that first-go round with COVID, it took Matt a good six weeks to fully recover and get to a point where his heart rate was within normal ranges, his RPE wasn’t high, and he could breathe easily while training.
“Everyone is different, whether it’s the flu, cold, or COVID. I mean, you can have a common cold and have a cough for six weeks, and that can be a completely normal thing. It just depends on your body and how you respond to each individual illness,” he explains.
Matt’s top tip to stay healthy during cold and flu season!
Pay attention guys. This is super-advanced, high-level, doctory-type stuff here.
Use hand sanitizer.
Yeah, that’s it. Just wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after you touch people, doors, gas pumps, ect. A good practice is to keep a small bottle in your car and use it whenever you get done running errands and being around other people.
Also, if you can, avoid shaking hands. Opt for a wave or fist bump instead!
That’s because touching surfaces is how germs are transmitted (in addition to water droplets). Someone covers their mouth to cough and then touches the handle at the gas pump, the door at the restaurant, the credit card pin pad at the grocery store. Don’t freak out and barricade yourself indoors. Just wash your hands, especially before touching your face or eating.
*Also, when you cough, you should always cough into your elbow and NOT into your hand. Please.
Sadly, wearing a traditional mask while grocery shopping or in a crowded movie theater will not protect you from getting sick. However, if you are sick, please wear a mask if you must go to a public place, including a doctor’s office. You don’t want to risk getting the entire office sick, including the receptionist, the 4-month-old sitting in the waiting room, the 90-year-old in a wheelchair, or your doctor because you were coughing your germs all over everyone.
*If you’re a paid subscriber, you can watch the replay of the full December Expert Webinar in the Monthly Expert Archive here.
Getting sick sucks. But when it does happen, knowing how to deal with it the right way can ensure you recover properly so you can get back to training and doing the activities you love!
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