This is a question I’m ask a lot with my medical background and there are a few simple guidelines that I follow; however, it still remains an individual decision. In the past I always said if the cold is above your shoulders, meaning a head cold then it’s safe to train. If the cold has gone below the shoulders into the chest or if you have a fever then don’t train. That’s because the cold is harder to fight if it’s in the lungs. Now, I’m the type of person that believes all things happen for a reason and yesterday proved this correct. I had just started writing this blog when I went to train where I ran into my business partner and he had said the night before he kept waking up with sinus problems. While he was working out he told me he couldn’t hardly train from the sinus pressure he was having. I then told him to stop training and go home and rest.
So this brings us back to the question should you train if you’re not well? As a bodybuilder and trainer, my answer would be listen to your body and it will tell you how it feels. So if you’re not feeling good then go ahead and try to get that rest your body is calling for. As a Registered Nurse, I would ask you to consider whether or not your contagious. If you think that you are, since gyms are already germ infested, I would tell you think of your fellow gym members and take precautions to make sure you don’t get others sick.