The flu can keep you away from your exercise program for weeks. You are likely eager to get back into it, but there are some good reasons why you should not jump back into your routine full-force as quickly as you're feeling better. While exercising is generally good for the immune system, intense exercise programs actually suppress it. Your post-sickness body is fighting to recover strength and immunological regularity , pushing yourself hard right away can really prolong your recovery.

It is smart to wait 3 or 4 days after you're feeling better to begin to work out again , anything beyond a walk might be too much to handle in this time. Waiting 1 or 2 days will give your immune system time to rest and recover.

Now you're feeling better and a few buffer days have gone by. Whether you're returning to the gymnasium or resuming a home exercise regimen, weight lifting or cardio coaching, it is important to keep in mind that you have been out of the game for a bit. Even a week off from exercising may cause muscle loss and aerobic fitness decline. A paper entitled "The Management of Low Back Stiffness : A Complete Rehab Program," by Joel Press, MD, and Susan and Brad Sorosky, MDs, reports that muscle strength decreases by 1-3% every day of bed rest and that aerobic fitness level declines by twenty five percent over a 3-week period of bed rest. This paper can be found in PDF format on the internet.

Your zeal to get back to where you were pre-sickness should be tempered by the acceptance that this goal will take more time to achieve if you push yourself too hard at first. You risk injury or serious delayed onset muscle soreness if you overtax your weakened muscles the 1st day back, both of which would put you off your routine for days or presumably, in the event of injury, weeks to come. Pushing to hard could also weaken your freshly-reconstituted immunological response and increase your chance of becoming sick again ( remember, there are many hundreds of different viruses that cause colds and flues ).

How much is too much? A good rule of thumb is to split your standard routine in every way for the first week or two. Exercise half as frequently, half as intensely and half as long as usual. You are reintroducing your body to the trials of exercise, and this is best done slowly. Increase the length, frequency and intensity of exercise programs gradually. Take the following eventuality as an example. Your typical routine involves 4 to 5 days each week of half-hour sessions.

You usually do 15 minutes of moderate- to high-intensity cardio ( such as running or jogging ) and fifteen minutes of strength building ( weight reps, core exercises etc . ). After being sick, try two 15-minute sessions the first week back, doing 7.5 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity cardiovascular ( like brisk walking ) and 7.5 minutes of strength training with half your usual number of reps per exercise. If at any point you feel overly exhausted, breathless or dizzy, stop and rest a couple more days.

You will get back to where you were before getting sick if you approach your return to exercise carefully. Give your body the rest it needs before exerting yourself after having the flu and reintroduce your body to exercise slowly.