Colds and Training

Gareth Jenkins

Hi

I have 3 young kids, and it's winter here in The Netherlands: that means colds are rife In our house. I do my best to avoid catching them, but was wondering what your advice is on the training plan when you get a cold. Do I stop training and try and get over it? If so do I do catch up or just forget about the sessions I missed?

Thanks Gareth

Mark Maurer

Hi Gareth, like most things the correct answer is probably, "it depends". For me it depends on the severity, location, other stressors, etc. The week before Christmas I came down with a cold and the first day I had very little energy so I just did a few walks and laid low (I had just finished a big project at work which was one of those outside stressors). The next day I was still not feeling well but I was feeling better so I got on the bike for a little spin on the trainer. After warming up I actually felt better and did a hard workout and felt much better afterwards. I will have to say that I also got a lot of extra sleep in the previous 36 hours so that helped tremendously. The other main issue that I've read about is where the cold is located. If it's a head cold then you can often train through it vs. a chest cold where it's not recommended to train through. Regardless, when I get a cold it's usually a sign that my body is run down and needs a rest so I'll normally take a day or two off and get some extra rest. Normally I just let the missed workouts go and move on.