Should you go to the gym when you’re sick?

Cold and flu season is upon us! As people, myself included, have gotten sick, left and right it seems, the question of when to rest vs when to push through has been posed.

Well think of it this way, if you’re sick your body’s main focus and priority is to fight off whatever it is that is making you sick. So your body is already pushing itself and putting all of it’s resources into getting rid of the sickness. It doesn’t care that you have goals and want to build muscle or loose weight, it only cares about getting better.

So if you go and ask your body to not only fight off this sickness but also go lift some heavy weights or go for a run…well that isn’t going to speed up the healing process. If anything there’s probably a better chance of you getting sicker if you push your body and divert resources from healing you to fueling your workout.

So to answer your question,

NO you shouldn’t go to the gym if you’re sick.

You should REST! Take an extra day off and give your body the rest it needs to fight off being sick. Your body will thank you for it!

Also you don’t want to walk around a gym spreading your germs around and getting other people sick. That’s just not nice!

Don’t forget to wash your hands and clean your equipment when your done with it!