How often have you heard the saying “sweating out the sickness?” Do you personally believe this is possible? There must be some truth behind this saying because many people come out from the gym feeling better when they’re sick. Can you actually recover from being sick faster if you go to the gym?

The bad news is going to the gym while you are sick with a cold won’t help you recover faster. Your body will need the same amount of time to recover as it usually would. I guess you can’t actually sweat out the sickness. But wait…there is good news! Going to the gym won’t lengthen the period of time you’re sick either. In fact, the reason so many people feel good after going to the gym when they’re sick is primarily due to the fact that exercise breaks up congestion. This gives you some temporary relief to those dreaded cold symptoms. Even though you can’t sweat out the sickness, you still can at least sweat out the symptoms.

The conclusion to this saying is you can’t sweat out the sickness, but you won’t make it worse. Don’t be afraid to go to the gym and exercise while you’re sick. It may give you some temporary relief. Just remember to only exercise at a low to moderate level while your body is fighting the sickness. This is especially important to remember if your sickness consists of a cough. Elevating your heart rate will only make it more difficult to breathe which will increase your coughing. Even though it’s perfectly fine to exercise while being sick, it’s also important to listen to your body. If you are experiencing worse symptoms while working out, stop exercising immediately and give the body some rest. You can make up those squats some other day.

-Tom