Should you exercise if you are sick?

For my birthday my kids got me a cold, which turned into a sinus infection. It has been a long couple weeks trying to battle this. I usually do not get sick but when I do I go all out.

So what can we do to help the healing process both from a exercise and nutrition standpoint?

Do we just let it take its course or push through?

The answer is it depends. Let me explain.

Each individual is different so our approach is not a blanket statement rather a general guideline, where you can adjust accordingly to you.

Nutritional approach:
If your immune system is compromised in anyway it has a major effect on your body’s cells and its ability to function at full capacity. So, we always look at the diet and supplementation as a starting point. Our goal is to aid the immune system both on a cellular level and a tissue level, as well as protecting the cells from any further damage.

Vitamins to consider adding or increasing while sick:
Vitamin A
Vitamin B6 and B12
Thiamin
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Copper
Iron
Magnesium
Selenium
Zinc

If you are taking a Multi-Vitamin then it may contain these however when sick you might have to increase certain levels of certain vitamins based on your own individual response or needs.

Exercise to consider while approach:
When you are sick think of the letter J on a graph, where the vertical axis represents risk of sickness and the horizontal line represents exercise intensity. If you place the letter J on the graph, the lowest point, or lowest risk of sickness, is in the middle of the exercise intensity axis. So, we can interpret that in a number of ways since moderate exercise is different for everyone. The point is when our immune system is compromised doing something moderate, whatever that is for you, is shown to help your immune system recover and decrease your risk.

I’m Sorry

I have to come right out and apologize. I have been very lacking in my emails to everyone. I could make a load of excuses but I will not. Time to get back in the swing of things because there is a lot coming up and happening here at the gym. This will take 3 minutes to read so I hope you stick around to the end of the email.

This past weekend was The Bad Ass Challenge. We doubled the number of participants then our inaugural year which is great. We are just short of our $1,000 goal of donations to The Fallen Patriot Fund. So if you missed the event but still want to support our troops and veterans you can still make a donation. Make checks payable to The Fallen Patriot Fund and you can send them to 1753 Northwind Blvd, Libertyville IL 60048.

Moving forward…
Saturday December 6th we will be hosting a Speed Clinic for student-athletes. It will be an hour long and $10 entry. All entry fees will be donated to the athletic department at Libertyville High School. So if you have a athlete or multiple athletes that want to get faster this is a great opportunity to learn some skills and drills to improve as well as supporting your community.

Saturday December 13th we will be hosting a charity workout supporting a local no kill animal shelter. About 4 weeks ago we had to put our dog down after a sudden illness overtook him. Animals hold a very special spot in my heart and the fact that this is a no kill shelter is even more important. They have requested supplies instead of monetary donations. We will be posting more information about that soon.

Finally…
Starting January 5th our annual Spring Break Challenge starts. This is a 12-week transformation contest where people get weekly support, phone calls and direction with their nutrition and fitness. So if you want to start the year with a new mindset and get a head start on your spring break body this is the challenge for you.

That is all for now. I will now give you time to mark your calendars with all the above information.