Is it possible to exercise when you have a cold? Exercising during a cold. Sports for a mild cold

Instructions

It has long been believed that during headaches, malaise or other symptoms accompanying a cold, training is strictly prohibited. Since during an illness the body does not need additional stress. Currently, experts say that playing sports during illness will not in any way affect recovery, that is, it will not speed it up, but it will not slow it down either. But, nevertheless, all doctors agree that physical activity is contraindicated during high temperatures. Training during a cold should be carried out in a light mode, that is, if before the illness the training took an hour and a half, then during it it is necessary to limit classes to from forty minutes to one hour.

If the doctor says that you have the flu, it is better to postpone going to training until you have fully recovered. Since during this illness severe complications on the kidneys, lungs and heart are possible. And the moral aspect of this action is that you are sick, that is, there is a risk of infecting gym visitors, since all places for sports are public.

If you still feel that you are showing signs of illness, but do not want to postpone going to the gym, then in this case you should take into account that the intensity of the load must be reduced by 40-50 percent. Also, during a cold, you should pay great attention to the consumption of clean drinking water - you should drink every 10-15 minutes, this will increase sweating and support your body. During illness, it is necessary to give preference to aerobics - step aerobics, treadmill running, and so on. You can try yoga or stretching, but it’s better to leave heavy strength exercises for later - you still won’t be able to achieve the levels you had before the illness.

Having considered all the opinions of experts about whether it is possible to play sports during a cold, it is worth considering what kind of physical activity will strengthen your immune system and help you not get sick at all. According to doctors, these include aerobics, tai bo - intense aerobic training with elements of oriental martial arts, yoga, tai chi - a type of Chinese gymnastics, stretching - regular stretching and water aerobics - physical exercises in water. By engaging in these sports, you can not only improve your health, but also forget about the flu.

I recently got sick, but now I feel fine. The runny nose persists, and in the evenings I feel a little tired. Tomorrow I'm training in the gym, I'm watching my figure, is it possible to play sports if you have a cold, if there is no fever or it's mild? Irina, 22 years old

Feeling normal and feeling unwell in the evenings cannot mean a satisfactory state of health. The patient requires a gentle regime, staying at home. By suffering colds and fever “on their feet,” people themselves provoke the addition of secondary infections, fatigue and decreased immunity, and complications on internal organs and systems. If you yourself feel a mild cold and there are no other symptoms other than malaise, you can do light workouts within the limits of physical fitness. The load should be applied gradually and 3-4 days after the first symptoms.

Lethargy, malaise, low body temperature - all this can affect the deterioration of well-being after exercise, so it is generally better to refrain from visiting the gym. Considering the purpose of your classes, you should refrain from training and skip 1-2 sessions. The body will get stronger, strength will return, and sport will bring the necessary benefits. During periods of unwellness, sports activities are not only useless, but can also cause some harm due to biochemical processes inside the body.

During times of illness due to illness, stress, severe fatigue, psychoneurological stress and prolonged fasting, the body produces a special hormone - cortisol. The hormone belongs to the catabolic group, which promotes the breakdown of protein, including muscle protein, increases blood glucose levels and promotes the accumulation of fat. Cortisol helps the body adapt to emergency conditions, creating additional resources to restore human strength.

In other words, the body begins intensive accumulation of useful and nutritious substances by breaking down protein into amino acids, and glycogen in the blood into glucose.

It turns out that, giving its last strength during training when sick, the body accumulates fats and microelements due to the destruction of muscle structures.

So, is it possible to exercise when you have a cold? For any physical activity, there are a special number of factors that should be taken into account when going to training. Classes are prohibited if the following conditions exist:

    increased body temperature;

    chills, fever;

    manifestations of a viral or bacterial infection;

    aching joints;

    inflammatory diseases of the throat (tonsillitis);

    period of antibacterial therapy (taking systemic antibiotics).

Taking antipyretics, antibiotics and attending a workout can negatively affect the condition of the kidneys, liver, and pulmonary structures. The temperature can rise even while taking medications. Physical activity increases the load on the heart and blood vessels. In case of a burdened clinical history, the simultaneous course of ARVI, influenza or a common cold with a deterioration of the patient’s condition requires mandatory rest of the patient and adherence to a protective regime.

After recovery, you should not start exercising immediately. The body needs time to recover, so it is enough to limit yourself to walking in the fresh air, a light jog in the park or in the forest. Physical activity should be gradual.

Exercises for colds can be useful for improving natural ventilation of the lungs, improving blood circulation, and stimulating the overall tone of the body. A beneficial effect can only occur with an uncomplicated cold. During a mild cold without fever or signs of complications, you need to follow a number of recommendations:

    reduce the duration of the workout by 20-30 minutes, subject to an hour-long lesson;

    reduce the intensity of physical activity by 50%;

    warm up by doing simple exercises;

    give preference to yoga, Pilates, slow stretching on the floor;

    drink water during exercise.

During the recovery of the body, the same rules should be followed. Too intense loads during the rehabilitation period can provoke a new surge in the disease.

When exercising in a gym surrounded by a large number of people, you should refrain from exercising for up to 2 weeks to eliminate the risk of re-infection through airborne droplets.

It is important to understand that if you have a cold without any special symptoms, you can run and do all possible sports, but if you have the flu, it is important to stay at home and stay in bed. Unfortunately, you did not indicate how long the cold lasts. Perhaps these are the initial signs of ARVI or influenza. To avoid complications and aggravate the clinical situation, it is better to refrain from visiting the gym.

Also, subsequent sessions should be postponed if significant deterioration occurs during training. The body requires sufficient resources and energy expenditure during illness, directing all efforts to eliminate pathogenic pathogens. During a cold, you need to drink enough fluids. The ideal option would be decoctions based on berries, herbs, and dried fruits.

It is important to follow a diet, quit smoking and alcohol. For quick recovery, you should take vitamin complexes, freshly squeezed juices, fresh vegetables and fruits. Saturating the body with vitamins has a beneficial effect on the general condition, improves mood, and increases resistance to pathogenic microflora.

If children are given an exemption from physical education during the period of a cold and its complications, then adults should independently assess their own well-being and make a decision. It is better to give the body the opportunity to rest and recover than to provoke an increase in temperature and the occurrence of various complications after training.

Save:

You can play sports if you have a cold, runny nose, or other illnesses, but only with a light program. Since the body fights pathogens, and the additional load on the muscular system worsens the situation. If you go to the gym when you have a cold, train hard and do fitness, the positive effect on the healing process is reduced. Therefore, it is not recommended to exercise or engage in vigorous exercise when you are sick until your cold has completely cleared up.

What happens in the body?

When you have a cold, there is an increase in the production of the hormone cortisol, which is caused by a destructive effect on muscle tissue. Cortisol is a hormone that is produced in large quantities during colds and is characterized by the destruction of proteins and muscle fibers. Cortisol is produced in large quantities when exposed to the following factors:

  • overwork (after training);
  • fear;
  • stress;
  • starvation;
  • colds, sore throat and other diseases.

But this hormone also performs a useful function, which is to attract nutritional components. When you are sick, the body needs building materials, which are amino acids and glycogen. The hormone is involved in the breakdown of proteins into amino acids, and glucose into glycogen. In this case, the body stores building materials required for its recovery after ARVI.

You can play sports if you have a cold, but you shouldn’t, there is no positive dynamics in this. Sport does not improve the condition. In addition, the effect of the hormone cortisol is not beneficial during physical activity, but only contributes to the destruction of muscle mass. Therefore, it is not worth working out, going to the gym to do exercises.

"Above the Neck" Rule

Among avid athletes there is a rule called “above the neck.” The peculiarity of this rule is that you can exercise in a rocking chair if you have a cold if the symptoms of the disease appear above the neck. That is, if you have a headache, teeth, throat, stuffy nose or inflamed tonsils, then you can exercise. Only the name of the founder of this rule is unknown, which, if followed, will inevitably lead to various complications.


To understand why it is not recommended to adhere to the “above the neck” rule and exercise when you have a cold, let’s look at what the lymphatic system is. So, the lymphatic system is presented in the form of lymph nodes and other small vessels. These vessels are filled with lymphatic fluid, which takes an active part in removing toxins and harmful substances. In a normal state, when a person is healthy and nothing hurts, the lymph nodes are invisible, but if he is overcome by viruses, then these nodes increase in size.

Enlarged lymph nodes indicate the predominance of pathological processes. They increase, creating a kind of barrier for viruses so that they do not spread to other organs and systems, this indicates that there is an active struggle between leukocytes and microbes.

If, when you have a cold and symptoms such as nasal congestion, cough, headache, you engage in sports, workouts and exercise, the infection will spread throughout the body. This is due to the fact that the lymph nodes will not be able to create a barrier when performing exercises, so the virus will spread to all organs and systems. It is recommended to undergo a course of treatment for a week and rest at home, then, when the cold has subsided, begin to harden the muscles.


Sports at temperature

Colds and sore throats often manifest themselves with the development of high body temperature. Moreover, the temperature value depends on the complication of the disease, but often the thermometer reaches 38.5-39 degrees. In this case, people who strive to exercise and play sports simply cannot do this. Why? The reason is that with the development of such a temperature, there is complete powerlessness and weakening, a sore throat, and chills. In addition, the person shudders, and if the temperature is not brought down, this can lead to death. What to do in situations where the temperature is maintained at 37 - 37.2 degrees, but the whole body aches and hurts?
The situation suggests that the fight against infection is underway. A temperature of 37 - 37.2 degrees and a sore throat is even worse than 38 or 39, since such a temperature cannot be brought down by anything. It is also prohibited for patients with a temperature of 37.2 degrees or a runny nose to play sports.


Often, a temperature of 37 degrees is caused by the following diseases:

  • hepatitis;
  • hormonal imbalance;
  • asthma;
  • tuberculosis;
  • angina.

Symptoms that cause the development of a body temperature of 37 degrees occur under the influence of various serious diseases. Therefore, instead of playing sports at a body temperature of 37 degrees, and even with a runny nose, you should rush to the hospital to treat a sore throat, ARVI and other colds.

How to recover faster?

If, in spite of everything, when you have a cold you rush to go to the gym for training, then it is important to know that for a speedy recovery you need to reduce the load by half. Reduce training time to 40 minutes. Drink plenty of water in small sips during exercise. The water should not be cold so as not to provoke complications.


If you still want to play sports, then it is important to give preference to the following types of exercises:

  • running on the track;
  • step aerobics;
  • meditation;
  • stretching;
  • fitness classes.

Sports activities requiring strong physical exertion, such as deadlifts, bench presses and squats, are prohibited. You cannot perform at your best when you have a cold, so it is better to leave these loads until you have fully recovered. If you feel a deterioration in your health when doing fitness and performing other exercises, you should stop exhausting your body and consult a doctor.

Recovery

After the cold subsides, your throat stops hurting and the doctor confirms your recovery, you can go to the gym and start training. Before doing physical exercises, you should find out some points:

  • You should not immediately perform heavy exercises after a cold, for example, running 20 km or doing a bench press of 100 kg.
  • You need to start with light exercises, because the weakening has not yet passed, and the body will be in a similar state for about 7-10 days.
  • To speed up the strengthening of the body, it is necessary to avoid physical exercise, drink vitamins, and strengthen the immune system. Otherwise, if you try to exercise and exercise 100% immediately after recovery, it will negatively affect your health.
  • After 1-2 weeks, you can return to your previous types of exercise and go to the gym. It is recommended to do this gradually so as not to disrupt the recovery process.

If a person tends to engage in regular physical training, then he is prone to rare manifestations of diseases or diseases that occur in a mild form. Sport strengthens not only the muscular and cardiovascular system, but also the immune system and the musculoskeletal system. Regular physical activity helps increase the immune system's resistance to various ailments.


If you like to run, jogging for 30 minutes in the morning can improve your chances of not catching a cold. Even if you get sick, with the right treatment approach, the cold will go away in a mild form and will not cause complications. To say “no” to a cold forever, you need to not only exercise regularly and run, but also harden yourself, eat right, and give up bad habits.

In rare cases, sport can act as a cause of the development of a cold. But such cases are isolated and are explained by the fact that a person simply overloads the body to the fullest, without giving it rest. In this case, immunity decreases and the body reacts to any negative factors.

Now you know why you can’t exercise when you have a cold. And if your health is important to you, then it is better to start with drug treatment of the disease, and then start training.

Instructions

Sports activities, even the smallest ones, have a positive effect on the body. Proper nutrition, sleep and fitness are the three pillars on which human health stands. Why then is it recommended to refrain from physical activity even at low temperatures? And at school, for example, they exempt you from physical education.

Back at the end of the twentieth century, medical scientists from North America set out to conduct an experiment to prove that sports exercises not only would not harm a sick person, but, on the contrary, would help an exhausted body overcome and defeat the disease. During the study, volunteers were injected with a cold virus through their noses, causing the expected appearance of a runny nose. After a certain period of time, when the disease had reached its maximum symptoms, the volunteers were sent to a treadmill. As a result, it was experimentally proven that the disease had no effect on the function of the lungs or on the body’s overall ability to withstand force loads.

It would seem worth rejoicing at such an optimistic result. But this experiment caused a lot of criticism, the main one of which was that doctors used too weak a virus - it practically does not cause complications. In reality, a wide variety of viruses attack a sick person. In addition to damaging the lungs and bronchi, such viruses seriously affect the cardiovascular system. It turns out that when playing sports during, for example, the flu, a person risks encountering heavy stress on the heart, overloading the myocardium. The disease provokes its inflammation, and sports aggravates it. In addition, each one inhibits anabolic processes in muscle tissue. Thus, physical exercise contributes to muscle breakdown. And there won’t be any effect for which people usually play sports.

Is it possible to play sports if you are sick? I think no. At best, you will not feel any positive effect from them. At worst, you will aggravate your already unpleasant condition. All the forces of the body are aimed at its speedy recovery; you should not disturb it by forcing it to strain beyond measure. Rest for a few days at home and let your body cope with the disease. Professional athletes will never train while sick; this is the lot of illiterate amateurs.

Is exercise good for colds? This question was answered by scientists in a study conducted by the College of Sports Medicine in the USA. Those who conducted the study found that exercising when you have a mild cold helps reduce symptoms.

And, conversely, strength training can completely unsettle a person during a cold or, even more so, the flu. Strength training in strenuous sports such as powerlifting, arm wrestling and bodybuilding has shown significant worsening of cold symptoms in people who did not stop exercising.

Sports can help you recover faster

Scientists came to this conclusion during their research. But only if, scientists believe, physical activity does not deplete the body. After all, what a healthy person can do is sometimes beyond the capabilities of a sick person. A cold weakens the human immune system, and with it all other systems of the body.

Therefore, even with relatively normal health and a cold in the initial stage, intense exercise can only make cold symptoms worse. But in more severe conditions, but with optimal load (simple exercises and a healthy diet, plenty of water throughout the day), sports can shorten the duration of the disease and alleviate its symptoms.

Even taking into account the fact that the average person gets a cold up to 5 times a year and this person is an athlete, a cold can prevent him from exercising. But you shouldn’t sacrifice your health to sports. If you get sick, reduce your exercise load and you will recover much faster.

What happened in the groups of subjects during the experiment?

Scientists at the American University of Indiana conducted a study of 50 people under the leadership of Professor Weidneris, MD. These 50 people - students - agreed to be injected with virus-infected serum, and then scientists observed them for 10 days. At the same time, 25 students were actively involved in sports during this entire period, while others practiced only light exercises.

After 10 days, it turned out that those students who did not expose their bodies to too much physical stress when they had a cold recovered more quickly. Their cold symptoms were not as severe as those who did extreme strength training. You can draw your own conclusion.

Reality and the cold experiment

Experiment with students - this needs to be taken into account! - Conducted under mild laboratory conditions. The virus he introduced was not severe and did not cause very serious cold symptoms, as often happens in real life. But those who periodically suffer from colds should know that in ordinary life a person suffers from many strains of viruses, against which the human immune system can be very difficult to fight.

In addition, unrecognized viruses can cause serious complications: disruption of the heart, blood vessels, respiratory system, kidneys, liver, cause intoxication of the entire body, which causes unbearable pain in the muscles and head. And then it can be quite difficult to distinguish the flu from a cold, choose the right treatment, and even calculate the duration and intensity of physical activity. Your doctor will help you with all this.

If you are sick, do not torture yourself, but get plenty of rest, and do the exercises that you can do. This way you will recover faster and there will be less chance that the cold will return soon.

Complications due to physical overload

It is quite obvious that even a mild cold is a burden on all body systems. It suppresses anabolic processes in muscles, activates the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which poisons your tissues and puts muscles in a painful state, destroying them. If a person does not give himself a break by actively playing sports, these processes are accelerated and aggravated. And then you will not only get no benefit from the training, it will significantly harm you.

Do not play sports or give yourself strenuous exercise if:

  • You're in the midst of a cold
  • Your symptoms are getting worse
  • You feel increased weakness and fatigue
  • You don't get enough sleep
  • You have an elevated body temperature - over 38 degrees Celsius
  • Your muscles and head hurt
  • You are coughing and wheezing
  • It's hard for you to breathe

If the disease is severe, it is better to avoid physical activity for about 3-4 days after recovery - this will guarantee you the best effect of getting rid of the cold.

What remedies will help you cope with a cold?

Please note that these remedies will not shorten the duration of your cold, but they may reduce the severity of cold symptoms

  1. Taking antipyretic medications, such as Theraflu
  2. Sucking on cough drops with a pain-relieving effect, such as Travesil
  3. For severe cough symptoms, take antitussive syrups, such as Tussin or Travesil
  4. To reduce irritation and dry throat, you can use sprays such as lugol, kameton or inhalipt

Preventing colds in combination with exercise

Even if you are actively involved in physical education and sports, do not forget about the following methods of preventing colds:

  • Be sure to take your vitamins about a month before the onset of cold seasons - in October and April. As recommended by your doctor, you should take vitamin complexes at least twice a year – in spring and autumn.
  • Rest and get enough sleep - this will reduce the risk of illness
  • Take vitamin C and glutamine as recommended by your doctor, especially before seasonal flu epidemics
  • Boost your immunity with echinacea extract (unless you have high blood pressure - echinacea will increase it even more).
  • Temper yourself at any time of the year, but gradually.

So, physical activity during a cold, as we have seen, depends on the state of health and the severity of the disease. Therefore, when deciding on sports during a cold, you need to be guided by your doctor’s prescriptions and your own common sense.

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