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Can you train with the flu or a cold?

Author: Stanislav Velednitsky - personal fitness trainer .
2016-10-17

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Flu or Cold?

It's that time of year when catching a cold or the flu virus is quite easy. And those of us who work hard in the gym know—there's nothing worse than missing workouts due to illness. Strength metrics decline, antibodies attack proteins, causing that dreaded catabolism (muscle breakdown), and even after being sick, the first workouts are incredibly difficult. So let's learn to determine for ourselves what you've "caught" so you can start treatment and get back to training quickly!

Clarification – not everyone may experience the symptoms described below:

Symptoms	Cold	Flu
Fever	Low-grade or none	Temperature above 37 degrees
Chills	Rarely	Often
Muscle aches, body aches	Mild	Severe
Headache	Mild	Severe
Blocked nose	Often	Often
Sore throat	Often	Often
Cough	Often	Dry, frequent
Complications	Ear infections, asthma flare-ups	Ear infections, asthma flare-ups, pneumonia, bronchitis, heart issues
Duration	7 to 10 days	1 to 2 weeks
Treatment	Rest, hydration, limit contacts. Vitamin C, immune modulators, BCAAs (to minimize catabolism), L-Glutamine.	Rest, hydration, limit contacts. Taking antiviral medications within the first 48 hours can help you recover faster. Vitamin C, immune modulators, BCAAs (to minimize catabolism), L-Glutamine.

Can You Train?

Usually, a cold doesn’t throw our schedule off as much as the flu does. Often, training during a cold is safe (if you know how to "listen" to your body).

But if you've decided to go to the gym while having a cold, you should carefully monitor the following nuances:

Physical activity increases heart rate – but many cold medications do the same. Thus, the "mix" of exercises and various Theraflu and Coldrex can overload the heart. You might also get out of breath quite quickly, making it harder to recover between sets.
If you have asthma and are feeling cold-sick, be sure to consult a doctor before heading to the gym. Training can trigger a coughing fit and make breathing difficult.
If you have a fever or chills along with your cold, working out will create significant stress. Wait a couple of days and ensure you're starting to feel better.
Of course, there's no point in saying that during the flu, workouts should be postponed until full recovery!
Besides the above, try to minimize the load on the CNS – reduce working weights by 20-30%, and do more light cardio (walking, jogging).

Protect Yourself from Illness

It's better to prevent illness than to treat it later. Personally, I have a few proven ways to protect against colds that have been validated over the years:

Regularly take comprehensive multivitamins.
BCAAs – especially Leucine – are the best stimulators of the immune system, so don’t forget about them.
If your body "tells" you that you're on the verge of illness, urgently go to an infrared sauna. You should spend 20 minutes there, drinking plenty of water or warm tea, and then spend another 20 minutes after the heating turns off to "sweat it out" and cool down.