No really I will......
For much of the week I've been enjoying a healthy dose of the common cold.
Most people tend to get one or perhaps two colds a year although in my case I've had four of the damn things since October.
I've been asking a simple question over the past few days - should you continue to exercise if you have a common cold? The standard answer seems to be to continue with perhaps a lower intensity than normal just so long as the cold sits above the neck.
Sniffles and sneezing are fine. A hacking cough..... well it seems better to curl up on the sofa and watch bad daytime TV. So this old tale is fine as a rule of thumb. I'll accept it for what it is by way of general advise.
But what does the science say about the subject?
I've found reference to quite a few studies although these two here and here, where a sample of lucky people were deliberately infected with the cold virus and then frog marched onto a treadmill. Ok, so the links above are only the abstracts of the work undertaken although the full study info can be found with a more detailed Google search should you so wish....
On other thing. I hope these people were paid and not just given extra course credit? Imagine actually wanting to be given a cold..... No thank you....
Anyway. These studies suggest the old wive's tale to be true with the subjects having no signs of a diminished aerobic capacity.
Further more, the second study seems to suggest exercising will not lengthen the time taken to recover once a cold has taken control of your upper respiratory system.
All interesting stuff...... And the last time I'll post anything on the subject.
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