Working Out With a Cold

Just last week, right in the middle of the week, I jumped into my second BJJ competition... and it was a big one. It was tough, and I didn't win, but I was proud because I did better than the last time. Afterward, I just went home to chill out. Competitions are intense and take a lot out of us, but I enjoy pushing myself, and it was a cool experience.

After all that stress and effort, my immune system took a hit, and I caught a nasty cold. Nothing unusual, just the typical annoying cold. All I wanted was to lay around and do nothing, so that's exactly what I did for over a day until my joints started to ache. You know, once you're past 40, lying in bed all day isn't as easy as it was when you were 20.

So, there was only one thing left to do... hit the gym. And that's what I did.

Working out with a cold isn't very enjoyable, I was pretty much dragging myself across the gym floor, and when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, let's just say it wasn't my best look. But I powered through anyway.

My instructor advised me to take it easy, work on each muscle group a bit, and not overdo it. At first, I felt terrible, but afterward, I felt so much better.

From experience, and a few injuries, I've learned that my joints need to keep moving. I can't sleep all night in the same position, sit too long in one spot, or go more than two days without lifting weights because my joints will start complaining, and I don't like that.

Sometimes we don't feel like working out, and sometimes we REALLY don't want to. But most of the time, we should do it anyway. Our bodies aren't meant to be still. We need to move.

I'm not saying you have to go to the gym when you're feeling awful with a cold, but you should try to move a little, maybe take a gentle walk or do some nice stretching.

I promise you'll feel better. Just give it a try next time.

Working out with a nasty cold