Doing Weights with a Cold

[Flying_Monkey]

... is really not a very good idea. You ache all over very badly and tend to twinge things. Not to be recommended.

 

[mickle]

A few years ago, and one day after the other coincidently, two friends told me about horrendous experiences of training whilst recovering from colds. Both very fit cyclists, one a personal trainer the other a Shi**no rep, had both gone out for easy rides thinking that the cold had run it's course and desperate to get back on the bike. Both ended up at the side of the road thinking they were going to die. According to their doctors the strain of exercising even at moderate levels whilst suffering from a cold can cause permanent damage to the heart. I'd never heard of the phenomenon before, the experience really scared the shoot out of them and I mean badly enough to send two fit healthy blokes straight to the doctors.

One of the benefits of owning an HRM is the advanced warning it can give you of an impending cold. If you take your resting rate every morning you can see the cold's affect on your heart before you become aware of it. Your heart rate rises by about 10%. Of course an HRM can also tell you when it's over and safe to train.

 

[doyler78]

I would never do cardio work on anything other than a minor cold. I do however do weights on colds and haven't experienced any problems. 8 reps last less than a minute with a recovery between sets so its not like that you are really taxing your heart so have never seen a problem. Indeed I can usually lift the same weight which suggests that my strength is still there.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Hmm. Well, it's not that I can't do them, just that the aches afterwards are worse. Anyway, I think I will stay off the bike for a couple of days - what Mickle says is good advice.

 

[doyler78]

Check this out:

http://www.inch-aweigh.com/cold.html

Depends on the severity of cold.

Are you stretching properly after doing any weight training. If you aren't this could explain your soreness and given you have a cold you would notice it more.

 

[fossyant]

When is a cold a cold ?, or when is it Flu.....? as Mickle says, those two guys were probably recovering from Flu, rather than a head cold.

I'll go out with head colds a I feel it clears them. I have, when younger, ridden long commutes with the flu - not really advisable - and I don't do it now.

The only one I find is hard to recover from is a bad chest - feel the after effects last some time - i.e. in the cold weather. Had a bad chest a couple of winters ago (probably work stress related) but it took months before I'd be able to go out in cold weather without coughing my guts up once I reached home, and the warm air hit my lungs...

 

[4F]

Hmm I have a bit of a head cold at the moment and planning to do the Dun run on Saturday (150 miles including the ride home afterwards)

 

[Flying_Monkey]

It's very much a chest cold. Coughing up lots of nasty green stuff. My head is fine!