This week has been challenging for me.

I came home from L.A. with more than just my luggage. A nasty fever took hold of me as the plane took off from LAX. By the time we landed in Boston I couldn't breathe, my head was pounding and my ears were clogged to the max. I could barely hear anything.

As you can imagine I took some medicine and went straight to bed. But for Monday and Tuesday night, nothing I did kept me warm and I would wake up in the middle of the night in a pool of my own sweat. Gross.

I was able to go to the gym Wednesday and did a chest workout... but had to stop after my thirds exercises as I was getting nauseous. You need to really listen to your body, especially when recovering.

The next day was a leg day so I decided instead of trying to push myself to lift heavy, I was going to go light and utilize supersets to hammer glutes, quads, hamstrings an calves. I still felt a bit feverish, but was able to get in a great workout and by the time I was done I was feeling good.

Then today I woke up feeling about 99% better and was able to go hard with a shoulder and back workout.

If you find yourself sick and desperately trying to get better. This is what I did. For the first two days I ate as much as I could, still stayed in my macro ratios, I drank A LOT of water and loaded on @BSN AMINO-X (BCAAs) as well. Day two, still lots of sleep eating, water and AMINO-X. By Day three I felt good enough to be more active and train a bit... but again you need to keep that diet and hydration under control.

We all heal at different levels. Erica got a little bit sick too, but she is from Brazil and her immune system is much stronger than me. In fact, she loves rubbing that in haha. Lucky her. Listen to your body Nation!

How do you handle the stress of being sick, wanting to get better and quenching your thirst to go to the gym? I would love to hear some stories from the community!

When I get sick I like to just take a week off and just do cardio. I treat it like a deload week so I don't have to do one when I'm not sick.

I'm currently sick, which is very bad! I'm taking a deload week too and I will return to full health and fitness next week :)

Yeah thats a great idea @ohawkey I dont always deload hen I should I should see being sick as a blessing in disguise! Lol

@ngafd sorry to hear that man. Seriously start to load on some BCAAs. They really seemed to help me

There's a nasty bug going round work...couldn't even taste food for 2 days 😟 taken a week off traing....back on it next week 👍

A little philosophy for everyone ever getting anxious about missing a lifting day or being sick. What's your 'training deadline'? You don't have one. You're not going to stop going to the gym tomorrow and never go again and you're not going to win a prize if you have a half-effort training session because think you should or you don't want to seem like a 'wimp'. Nothing bad will happen if you do not train every once and a while.

Much like people being conflicted about strength or size gain but obsessing over keeping or attaining abs, you have to choose ONE thing to be great at. You can be 'okay' at a bunch of things or 'great' at a few, pick your battles intelligently and accomplish what needs to be done. Once you succeed, maintenance is tremendously easier and you can then focus on the new task.

So, no stress. You're sick? Heal. You're healed? Pick up heavy things. Your training log will still be there with open pages for you tomorrow. Being strong is having the ability to do the right thing, the smart thing. Your gains will have longevity that way.

Embrace the grind.

It definitely bothers me when I get sick and can't work out. If I feel up to it I try a half-routine, only resistance or only cardio and see what happens. If I can't do either or I start one and can't finish I have to admit the possibility that my body has better things to do with my resources than workout, when I'm sick. For me it's about trusting my body, if I get a symptomatic reason to stop working out I stop immediately, because I trust my body to tell me what it needs. Impulse is right, it's not the end of the world (even if it kind of feels like it) and when I can workout again I feel like I can work harder because I got a few days off.

I have never regretted taking the time off when it felt necessary. As opposed to pushing hard when I knew it was a mistake, that's where relapses and fun things like walking pneumonia happen and that sucks so hard. I definitely have some stand out moments of regret from choosing to push it too hard.

I'm glad you're feeling better Scott. I got sick today and could only walk for 15 minutes before I had to take a nap. So not achieving anything hardcore and not setting myself back by overdoing it. Ugh, I'm going to workout so hard when I'm feeling better!

I agree with Eric. When you are sick, you are tired and run down because the pathogen(s) is releasing toxins into your blood stream and because your immune system is in DEFCON 2 and is in full attack mode. You need to REST and drink fluids and eat if you can. Training is not adviseable in any form - deload, light, medium, etc. Pumping iron stresses ALL bodily systems. Your entire body is already stressed from the infection. Lifting while sick or when not fully recovered is like having an active case of Hepatitis A and then going out and drinking like a fish.

I know everyone heals at different rates and it is determined mostly by age, nutrition and fitness levels, and immune system strength. Missing a few days, a week, or even two to get fully healed will not kill you or de-rail your progress. It's just a mind trip that you need to deal with when you feel "guilty" not working out or feel you must work out even when sick or not 100% recovered.

John

i do wierd things when im sick i have to keep moving if i sleep it makes it worse i go for a walk or excercise when im not feeling my best and looking good scott

So no mind of matter @jmboiardi?

haha

I feel like I can help myself heal by staying positive and focused. Have always been like that. Definitely need to rest, but getting myself out of the house really helps too!

I will admit I am one of the ones that finds it hard to not go to the gym even when I'm sick, and I don't think I've ever de-loaded really, never knew much about it until now to be honest...maybe I should see being sick as a blessing too! haha