Your nose is running and your head is buzzing. But should you really interrupt your established exercise routine and stay in bed?
It is important: A slight cold is not to be equated with a strong cold. Here we can tell you exactly where the difference is, which training is okay and what you should rather leave it alone!
Just a slight cold – what is allowed?
The cold season is in full swing! Often it starts with a runny nose. As long as it stays that way and there are no other symptoms like sore throat, fever or cough, you don’t have to worry about your training. You can keep your usual routine at a moderate pace. This can even have a positive effect on healing, because your mucous membranes are supplied with more blood during exercise.
Running, biking, swimming are now suitable sports that you can easily do. Above all, it is important that you feel fit and do not overload your body. Therefore, you should reduce your normal workload a little and just take it a little slower.
What happens if you train with a cold?
Did you get it right? If you have a sore throat, cough, and fever, be sure to swap your gym shoes for your bed. Your immune system has been weakened from fighting viruses in your body. So the body has a lot to do to get rid of the annoying cold. If you then drag yourself to exercise and do a strenuous workout, that would be an additional burden.
And that is not entirely safe. If you train weakened, caution is required because
- The symptoms could get worse and the common cold could get worse.
- You could drag off your cold and then have to deal with it for much longer.
- In rare cases it can even lead to heart muscle inflammation.
These risks should not to be taken lightly. Because heart muscle inflammation can have life-threatening consequences. The symptoms are usually imprecise or not even noticeable. Exhaustion, tiredness and shortness of breath during exertion can indicate inflammation of the heart muscle and should definitely be clarified by a doctor. Untreated symptoms can lead to arrhythmias or cardiac insufficiency which, if left untreated, can even lead to death.
So if you have a flu-like infection or a bad cold, make sure to talk to your doctor about what is allowed and what is not allowed in terms of sport. And until then it means: give your body the necessary rest and sip ginger tea.
How long do you have to take a break from training?
The symptoms are getting weaker and the nose is not running as badly as it was a few days ago? Excellent! Then things seem to be going uphill again. But what does that mean specifically for your training?
In general:
- If it was just a mild cold without fever and Co., you can start again as soon as the symptoms have completely subsided.
- However, if a fever was involved and you took medication under these circumstances, you should take at least a week off before you get back to exercise. The same applies here: Talk to your doctor.
In both cases, it is important that you get back into training step by step and slowly increase your workload. If you start right away with full power, the cold could come back quickly. Therefore it is better to play it safe, start with light endurance training and slowly return to your old level of performance. Your body will thank you!