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What do you do when you're sick?

Posted by Tanja Gardner on October 26, 2011 at 10:41 AM

This week I’ve been sick, so I haven’t been walking much. You know that godawful lurghy that’s been going around? Yeah, it got me. Hard. I’d actually been holding it off for couple of weeks. I’d felt it lurking there in the background, but a combination of sensible exercise, eating and sleep meant I’d managed to keep it there.

Well, at least until the Onehunga half-marathon anyway. Everything was going fine… until the last 2km when the heavens opened, and I got drenched. I think at that point, it was a given I was going to succumb :-(.

So what should you do walking-wise when you’re sick? Once upon a time when I ran an online PT business, I wrote an article training when you’re sick|. I’ve long since closed down the PT business, but the principles of the article still remain. They are:

• If you train with other people (e.g. a walking group) and you have something contagious like a cold, be considerate and stay away until you stop being infectious

• If all your symptoms are above the neck (e.g. headache or sniffles) and you want to exercise, keep the intensity low for 10 minutes and pay close attention to how you feel. If you’re fine, gradually ramp things up. If you start feeling dizzy or floaty at any point, stop and call it a day.

• If you have any symptoms below your neck (e.g. fever, coughing, nausea, stomach cramps or aching muscles), don’t exercise – just take time off and rest up till you’re better.

So what about you, lovely Wonder Walkers?

• How do you decide when you’re well enough to walk and when you take time off?
• Have you ever walked when you knew you shouldn’t and regretted it?