Keeping fit when less than 100%

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#1

I’ve had a not-stellar past few weeks, what with being continuously sick and congested and miserable. As one might imagine, this has gotten in the way of me doing any sort of exercise. Now that I’m starting to feel better, I’m trying to ease back into exercise but every time I try something requiring exertion (treadmill, weights, yoga, etc) my congestion gets worse, and I feel worse.

So, a thread topic: how do you try to keep the wolverines! momentum moving forward when bacteria, viruses, seasonal allergies, not-seasonal allergies, etc., get you down?

(I’m not talking about a few days bout with feeling yucky, I’m talking weeks. 3 at this point…)

#2

I wish I had better advice for you, but I switch from hard core cardio to yoga (which you’re already doing), up my allergy meds, make best friends with my Neti pot, and feel miserable. I know you’re having a hard time with allergies and congestion. Have you tried picking up some locally-sources honey? You just moved, so you might be reacting poorly to the new environment. Locally-made honey supposedly helps you build up tolerance for the local flora and pollen. That might be naturopathic bullsh*t but you can get the honey for $10 at a farmer’s market and there’s really no harm. Might be worth a try.

#3

I don’t know if my methods will help you much, but usually what I do with any kind of congestion type stuff is eat spicy food and go for really hard bike rides. It may sound counter-intuitive, but I’ve found that when I push past the point where my breathing can’t keep up with exertion, it all starts to break loose. Kind of a ‘burn it and blow it out’ mentality. Definitely not for everyone, and it can be kinda messy too.
Neti pots are awesome, I use mine regularly. Starbuccaneer is right on about the honey, I’ve heard that from doctors as well. Plus it tastes better in your tea:)

#4

As long as you’re still going to the gym or getting in your exercise time, then that’s half the battle. I found that as long as I just go, even if I’m only lifting half the amount of weight that I had been able to before, I can work my way back up. Stopping completely makes it harder, so just let your body tell you when you’re going too hard, especially if you’re sick. So if you have to set the treadmill to it’s slowest speed, and I mean so slow that you’re not even sure you’re walking, just do that. Pump it back up when you feel better.

#5

I had nearly 3 weeks there where I physically couldn’t do yoga, since the inversions would inevitably lead to a very unpleasant coughing fit, and I didn’t want to inflict my germy self on the gym (my students, on the other hand…). I’m just now starting to get back into a fitness routine, and happily enough it hasn’t been too tough a re-entry.

Thinking through this, there are some things that I was subconsciously doing that I think helped with not getting in significantly worse shape while being sick:

  1. I was very precise about what I was eating, so I avoided gorging on junk, mostly.
  2. I did a lot with my posture, trying to sit well and, when standing, to do Mountain pose
  3. Let myself be sick. I hate it, I always hate it (why won’t my body just do what I tell it to do!?), but rest is oftentimes the best remedy.
  4. Have a gentle re-entry. I’d try things, and then I’d try again 2 days later. Sometimes I’d improved, sometimes I hadn’t. But, as one of my favorite yoga teachers always said, listen to your body and do what’s available to it right here, right now. :slight_smile: Even if it’s just working on sitting up straight in bed
#6

and thanks for the advice everyone :slight_smile: I haven’t been able to find local-to-here as opposed to local-to-state honey, so I’m not sure if it will help much on the allergy front. It not being so summery has helped, though :wink: I’ll definitely be back to this thread the next time my immune system goes to war against the bugs!

#7

I don’t know if my methods will help you much, but usually what I do with any kind of congestion type stuff is eat spicy food and go for really hard bike rides.
You know, I may have stubled upon the spicy food thing the other day by accident. I am been in a similar situation where I have been feeling bad for a few weeks, and trying to get back into the swing of things.
According to a little research, some people think it is good, some people think it provides temporary relief but no real benefit, and some people think it is bad. Oh well.

#8

Since this seems to be the week of GWCers being less than 100%, I thought I’d chime in here again.

I’ve been experiencing the slow descent into a nasty cold for the past few days, and as happens, I tire easily and can’t do most of my normal exercise activities (I’m really not willing to have my nose drip on things! ew!). That said, I found that doing standing sequences in yoga has helped immensely in terms of still being able to do something. So long as I avoid inversions that place my head below my heart, and I am intentional about the movement between poses, it’s been going well. It’s also a great chance to work on some non-twisty balance poses! so look for the positive, my friends! :slight_smile:

(back to my tea and tissues now, though :()

#9

Really sorry you’ve been feeling bad, Casilda. :frowning:

I just got over a cold myself, and it totally derailed me last week. I managed to make it into the gym on Monday, but missed Tue, Wed, and Thu entirely. (That’s the first three days in a row I’ve missed since Comic Con, I think.) It really got me down. Thankfully I felt well enough to get in a strength-only workout on Friday, then I tried (unsuccessfully, as I only got in 10 min of rowing and 20 on the elliptical before I donk’d out) cardio on Saturday. Yesterday I had my training appointment, which was strength-only and went well. This morning I did the same.

This got me to thinking about how beneficial it is to have a combined strength(/resistance/weights), cardio, and activities training regimen. Different artificial constraints – time, schedule, sickness/injuries of different types) and impact some of those activities, but very little impacts all of them. Like, for example, the coughing and inability to breath stopped me from doing cardio, but didn’t interfere too badly with lifting as I could always add a little more rest time to keep my heart rate and breathing from spiking. On the other hand, there have been times when a specific muscle injury will keep me from lifting, but doesn’t stop me from doing cardio. I can also re-target by, say, doing chest, shoulders, or arms on a day when my legs can’t hack it or visa versa.

It just struck me that if I relied on a single type of workout for all my fitness goals, I’d be a lot easier to take down in terms of missed workouts. :slight_smile:

Hope you feel better soon. Sending happy get-well vibes your way.

#10

How long does it take to lose cardio endurance? I have been sick for the last 5 days. I haven’t been able to walk much, let alone workout. Today is the first day where I have been able to get up for a couple days. Tomorrow will probably be the first workout in a week. When you are sick for multiple days, do you just go back to where you left off or do you start slow? The standard answer is “whatever you can do”, but is 5 days going to crush my endurance? How quickly do you build back up?

#11

I always start slow. With the move last summer and the new job I’ve been less consistent with my healthy living strategies than I was for awhile there - but I’ve never regretted doing too little, I’ve only been regretting when I push myself past what my body can handle at the moment. I know it can be frustrating (but I USED to be able to do that!), but I’m definitely a fan of being cautious.