http://www.teambeachbody.com/about/newsletters/-/nli/274
Ask the Expert: Can I Exercise with a Cold?
By Steve Edwards
Shut it down and get some rest, Amel. It will help you get well sooner and it might end up improving your results in the long term.
When you're sick, your body uses its recovery properties to fight the illness. When you exercise, you use these same properties to recover. To your body, trying to exercise when you're sick is effectively the same thing as overtraining. You won't be able to recover from exercise, rendering it useless, as well as increasing the risk of making your illness worse and lengthening your downtime.
Believe it or not, there are actually a couple of upsides to being sick. It both raises your metabolism and heightens your immune response, meaning that you can eat more than normal and not gain weight. Your immune system also releases performance-enhancing hormones that both fight the infection and help you heal microtrauma incurred during your training program. Because of these factors, when I'm sick during a training cycle I consider it my recovery week. Here is my protocol:
At the onset of symptoms I bump my vitamin C and zinc levels, drink a ton of water, and sleep as much as possible. If I catch it early enough, I'll miss the cold. However, your body plays an insidious trick on you at the onset of a cold. Before you feel symptoms, your adrenal system kick-starts the immune response, which often results in a great workout—too good. Prior to a competition, if an athlete sets a personal record or looks too strong, their coach will often shut them down in anticipation of potential pending illness. If a workout feels spectacular out of the blue, consider backing off and adding immune-boosting supplements to your regimen.
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