Part 2
In part 1 of this post, I focused on my overriding theory of preventing illness and heading off the onset of sickness with intense exercise. Now, let's see how it played out for me over the past week as I dealt with my first real head cold in the past 6 years.
In my case, on the first day, Monday, I had the beginnings of a head cold, that had started with a very sore throat about 7:00 A.M. I was silently cursing myself because I had taken two full days off the week prior. No weights, no aerobics, no sports, no boost to the immune system. No daily artificial fever or flushing effect. This on top of a very stressful work environment, anxiety related sleeplessness, and a bunch of sick colleagues had set up a no win situation for my immune system.
So, hoping to get back into the healthy rhythm at the end of the work day, I went to the gym and went at it hard, followed by a fairly intense run. I actually set a PR on my last set of T-bar rows. Based on past experience, the intensity of the workout would actually boost my immune system, flush and/or fry the offending pathogens, stopping this evolving illness in its tracks. The sore throat did abate after the workout, but I could feel sinus pressure building.
By the next morning, Tuesday, I realized my efforts were too late. (Maybe if I could have gotten to the gym within the first two hours, the outcome may have been different) A full blown head cold had set in. I now had a sinus headache, a stuffy nose, achy joints, a slight fever, and that feeling of tiredness that makes either going to work or working out impossible. Once you reach this stage, it is a "no brainer." Drink fluids and rest. Stay out of the gym. You'll just further compromise your immune system by trying to stay on track.
The next day, Wednesday, day three, feeling only slightly better, presenting the same basic set of symptoms, I went to work for half a day, incorporating only about half the stair climbing I normally do during my breaks as an aerobic/fat burning adjunct to my afternoon workouts.
During and after each set (12 floors), I carefully monitored my reaction. I noted how tired it made me (more than normal but not too bad), whether my respiration and heart rate were unduly elevated (again effected but within acceptable levels) , whether my core temperature rose more than it typically did (only slightly above normal), lactate build up (faster and more noticeable than normal but acceptable) and the perceived level of exertion (only up 1 on a 10 point scale). All in all, I felt safe doing this amount of work, but opted not to do a full day's worth of stairs, wanting to see if I still felt as good by the end of the work day.
All of this was made possible because of the regularity of my exercise patterns and my awareness of how it affected my physiology. Without this self knowledge it is impossible to know how an illness, diet or, new or intensified exercise routine is impacting you and how to adjust to achieve optimal gains and avoid back tracking.
At the end of the work day, based on a slight dip in energy from the stair climbing, I opted for a 4 mile walk instead of a trip to the gym. Again, monitoring the aforementioned reactions, I think I made a good choice, I was certainly not reacting as normal, but the effect was not "alarming."
On the morning of the 4th day, I awoke feeling slightly better, experiencing less head congestion, less lethargy, and no fever. My lower intensity exercise from the day before had not caused any regression and I felt better having been able to exercise.
At work, I did my full set of exercises (more volume but the same intensity level) and again assessed my reactions to be in the acceptable range. By the end of the day, I assessed my energy levels and reaction to the stair climbing to be suitable for heading to the gym.
There, it was "leg day" and I did all of my normal exercises, the same number of sets with previously programmed weights, but I ended each set 2 or 3 short of failure, as a precaution. Again, I monitored my reactions after each set as it related to each set and cumulatively. All was okay, not normal, but okay. I ended the workout with a 2.5 mile run, going slower than normal, again, as a precaution, wanting to push, but not too hard.
As the evening wore on, I judged that I had hit it about right. I was tired from the exercise, but not sicker nor unduly exhausted.
On Friday, I still had some head cold symptoms, but exercise was all systems go with no ill effects.
The after effects of the cold remained for another 2 days, but did not impact my workouts. All told I lost only 2 days and I did not lengthen the illness through my physical activity.
Self knowledge, self assessment, and a constant feedback loop allowed me to ratchet up the exercise fairly quickly as the cold ran its course.
Now the goal is to stay the course and not get sick again.
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