The Dreaded Cold Invaded My Life

I’m sick. I hate being sick. It’s really gross and annoying. And I think I can say with good certainty that Woody would agree with that statement. A bug has been going around my office since the New Year and I felt this coming on when we were in Charleston but it hit hard Saturday morning. I had to finish a project for work on Saturday and it took me for-ev-ah cause it was so hard to concentrate. You know that feeling, right?

A lot of people get sick with colds and such during the winter, but I think it might be worse this year because the temperatures have been all over the place (this could just be an old wives tale that the weather has anything to do with colds, but I’m going to go with it). Unlike the flu, it can be tricky to know whether it’s okay to workout or not when you have a cold. Woody swears by sweating out a cold. He’ll wear long pants, a sweatshirt, and knit cap then doing a long cardio session on the treadmill or elliptical before hitting the sauna. Here are the guidelines Woody and I have come to follow, and which seem to go along with ‘expert’ advice I’ve read over the years.

Workout if….

1. You can breath without much trouble.
2. It’s all in your head, not in your lungs.
3. You got a good nights sleep.

Stay home if….

1. You can hardly get out of bed.
2. Every muscle in your body aches (or even half of them).
3. You’re coughing and/or sneezing frequently.
4. You have a fever.
5. You have a throbbing headache.
6. You simply feel like rest is more important.

I did go to the gym Saturday and actually had a pretty good workout. Sunday was a different story though. I just didn’t have much energy but I’m glad I got my heart rate up for a bit. Today I slept in, skipped the gym, and because I’m still feeling pretty nasty and don’t want to give this to my co-workers, I’m staying home from work.

Two things I did all weekend, and plan to do today, was load up on citrus fruits (thanks to my mother in law who sent us another shipment of grapefruits and oranges straight from Florida) and drank tea. Lots of tea….

• When you have a cold, how do you decide whether or not to workout?
• What’s your go to remedy for colds?

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Saturday’s workout -

• 2 circuits:
  • 15 cable side twists (ea. side)
  • 15 cable push-down
  • 15 weighted side bends
  • 25 kickbacks
  • 15 squatting rows
• 2x15 lateral arm raise
• 30min elliptical
• 30min stationary bike
• 2x40sec plank
• 100 ab exercises
• stretching

Sunday’s workout -

• 20min stationary bike
• 30min elliptical
• 2x15 upright row
• 2x15 lat pull down
• stretching

Today’s workout -

None.