Wow. Have you or someone you know been hit by the flu? Or something? I mean it is cold and flu season. I am pretty confident that if you haven’t caught it you know someone who has. It is my belief that with the lives we lead and all the rush and pressure to go-go-go, we don’t stop and give our bodies the rest they need in order to get well. With all the going and not enough resting it takes a really long time to get over these illnesses that get us. I have heard of some people being sick for three weeks. I am not sure exactly the extent of that. I know that it can be that long or longer before you are back to feeling 100%. Without being able to completely STOP and rest it just takes so long to get better. So I wanted to remind you that once you feel better and you resume your regular workout SCHEDULE, do not resume your regular workout. Take it easy. Take is slow.
If you have been sick for two or three weeks and you have not been doing your normal activities, if you have had to cut out your workout because you just don’t have the energy because your body is busy fighting off some cold or flu, once you think you are back to your 100% you still need to take it easy when it comes to your workout. Right? Your body has 1) been fighting off an illness for three weeks (or longer) and 2) has not been working out. As you may have experienced even when you are healthy and you take a time off from your workout, it is usually as good idea, if not necessary, to kinda ease back into working out. So it makes sense that after being sick you should ease back into it. Even more so because your body has been doing a lot of work in trying to get well. When you are feeling 100% you don’t want to go whole hog. You want to give your body time to adjust.
So, be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break. Try not to have the mentality of, “Oh my! I have been off from working out for three weeks so I have to push myself that much harder. I have to make up for what I have missed.” And/or “Well, before I got sick I could do XXXX, so I SHOULD be able to do it now.” No. You shouldn’t be able to the same things you did before you were sick and you shouldn’t do the same things. Give yourself some time. Ease back into it. Your body needs to adjust. Give yourself a break.
I know it might be hard because you may feel like you need to make up the time you missed or you may feel like you worked so hard to get where you were you SHOULD be able to be right back there. But, no, your body still needs to adjust. So go slow. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind. Understand that it is ok to take a few workouts to get back to where you were.
If you go easy on yourself you minimize the risk of getting sick again. The idea of a relapse should be enough to encourage you to take it slow. None of us want to be sick AGAIN!
Terre Pruitt's Blog 