Influenza can keep you away from your workout routine for weeks. You're likely excited to get back into it, but there are some good reasons why you shouldn't jump back into your routine full-force as soon as you are feeling better. While exercise is typically good for the immune system, intense work-outs actually suppress it. Your post-sickness body is fighting to recover strength and immunological regularity , pushing yourself hard right away can essentially lengthen your recovery.
It is sensible to wait three or four days after you're feeling better to begin to work out again , anything beyond a walk may be too much to handle in this time. Waiting a couple of days will give your immune response time to rest and recover.
Now you are feeling better and one or two buffer days have gone by. Whether you're returning to the gymnasium or resuming a home fitness program, weight training or cardio training, it's important to keep in mind that you have been out of the game for a while. Even a week off from exercising can cause muscle loss and aerobic fitness decline. A paper entitled "The Management of Low Back Trouble : A Complete Rehab Program," by Joel Press, MD, and Susan and Brad Sorosky, MDs, reports that muscle strength decreases by 1-3% each day of bed rest and that aerobic fitness level declines by 25% over a 3-week period of bed rest. This paper can be discovered in PDF format on the web.
Your fervour to get back to where you were pre-sickness should be tempered by the awareness that this goal will take longer to achieve if you push yourself too hard initially. You risk injury or serious delayed onset muscle soreness if you overtax your weakened muscles the first day back, both of which would put you off your routine for days or presumably, in case of injury, weeks to come. Pushing to hard could also weaken your freshly-reconstituted immune reaction and increase your chance of becoming sick again ( remember, there are hundreds of different viruses that cause colds and flues ).
How much is too much? A good rule is to halve your normal routine in each way for the 1st week or two. Exercise half as often, half as intensely and half as long as usual. You're reintroducing your body to the rigors of exercise, and this is best done slowly. Increase the length, frequency and intensity of work-outs gradually. Take the following scenario as an example. Your usual routine involves 4 to 5 days a week of half-hour sessions.
You typically do 15 minutes of moderate- to high-intensity cardiovascular ( such as running or jogging ) and fifteen minutes of strength building ( weight reps, core exercises for example. ). After being sick, try 2 15-minute sessions the 1st week back, doing 7.5 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity cardio ( like brisk walking ) and 7.5 minutes of strength drilling with half your typical number of reps per exercise. If at any time you are feeling excessively exhausted, short of breath or dizzy, stop and rest a few more days.
You'll get back to where you were before getting sick if you approach your return to exercise carefully. Give your body the rest it needs before exerting yourself after having the flu and reintroduce your body to exercise slowly.
It is sensible to wait three or four days after you're feeling better to begin to work out again , anything beyond a walk may be too much to handle in this time. Waiting a couple of days will give your immune response time to rest and recover.
Now you are feeling better and one or two buffer days have gone by. Whether you're returning to the gymnasium or resuming a home fitness program, weight training or cardio training, it's important to keep in mind that you have been out of the game for a while. Even a week off from exercising can cause muscle loss and aerobic fitness decline. A paper entitled "The Management of Low Back Trouble : A Complete Rehab Program," by Joel Press, MD, and Susan and Brad Sorosky, MDs, reports that muscle strength decreases by 1-3% each day of bed rest and that aerobic fitness level declines by 25% over a 3-week period of bed rest. This paper can be discovered in PDF format on the web.
Your fervour to get back to where you were pre-sickness should be tempered by the awareness that this goal will take longer to achieve if you push yourself too hard initially. You risk injury or serious delayed onset muscle soreness if you overtax your weakened muscles the first day back, both of which would put you off your routine for days or presumably, in case of injury, weeks to come. Pushing to hard could also weaken your freshly-reconstituted immune reaction and increase your chance of becoming sick again ( remember, there are hundreds of different viruses that cause colds and flues ).
How much is too much? A good rule is to halve your normal routine in each way for the 1st week or two. Exercise half as often, half as intensely and half as long as usual. You're reintroducing your body to the rigors of exercise, and this is best done slowly. Increase the length, frequency and intensity of work-outs gradually. Take the following scenario as an example. Your usual routine involves 4 to 5 days a week of half-hour sessions.
You typically do 15 minutes of moderate- to high-intensity cardiovascular ( such as running or jogging ) and fifteen minutes of strength building ( weight reps, core exercises for example. ). After being sick, try 2 15-minute sessions the 1st week back, doing 7.5 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity cardio ( like brisk walking ) and 7.5 minutes of strength drilling with half your typical number of reps per exercise. If at any time you are feeling excessively exhausted, short of breath or dizzy, stop and rest a few more days.
You'll get back to where you were before getting sick if you approach your return to exercise carefully. Give your body the rest it needs before exerting yourself after having the flu and reintroduce your body to exercise slowly.
