Exercising While Sick or Hungover

Understand why you should never exercise while you have a cold OR while you are hungover.

Should you train with a hangover? 

“Oh, I had such a big weekend, time to go to the gym and sweat all that alcohol out.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard this…

Here’s why I do not recommend training after lots of alcohol. Firstly, you cannot “sweat” out alcohol. Your body has to metabolise this toxic liquid you have spent the night drowning it in. 

A quick overview:
Alcohol has seven calories per gram, offering no essential nutrients to your body. Your body actually sees alcohol as a toxin and is like, “shit! Get it the f*ck outta me”, aka alcohol metabolisation. 

How it works:
The most common pathways for metabolising alcohol involves two enzymes - alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). These enzymes help break apart the alcohol molecule, making it possible to eliminate it from the body. First, ADH metabolises alcohol to acetaldehyde, a highly toxic substance and a known carcinogen (carcinogen: causes cancer in humans). Then, in a second step, acetaldehyde is further metabolised down to another, a less active byproduct called acetate (less toxic), which then is broken down into water and carbon dioxide for easy elimination (urine).

Summary: It’s a lot of work for your body to get rid of alcohol. 

So you are dehydrated, tired, dealing with a known carcinogen, and now you want to workout!  You are only going to make matters worse.

Instead, rest and rehydrate! Spend time in nature without your phone; this reduces all of the anxious feelings and calms your mind and body, allowing it to do its thing so that you feel fine and dandy tomorrow!

To “sweat it out” or rest and recover?

AKA: Should you exercise while you have a cold? 

Firstly, the term “sweat it out”, claiming you can sweat a viral infection (cold) out of your body by going to the gym, is BS. (your body may create sweat/heat on its own when fighting a ‘bacterial infection’ - fever, that’s different)

Going to the gym for an intense workout when you have a cold will only put more stress on your body and further weaken your already struggling immune system. Making your cold last longer or allowing symptoms to worsen. 

Activities you CAN consider when you are sick (only if symptoms are- sore throat, cough, runny nose, congestion) are: walking - preferably in the sunshine, yoga, or any very low-intensity movement. 

(If you have symptoms such as muscle/joint pain, headache, fever, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, avoid ALL exercise.) 

Activities you should AVOID when you are sick: heavy strength training, endurance training, HIIT, team sports and sprinting. 

70% of your immune system lives in your gut! This is where you can help your body out by making digestion easier. *Que soups and liquids. Easily digested foods make it easier for your body to well, digest and absorb nutrients, helping you recover faster. 

Don’t be a fool. Listen to yo body. She/he knows what they are doing.