Getting back to training after colds/flus

I feel like so many people around me are sick. I am seeing many clients and friends becoming sick these days. Colds, flu, viruses and COVID. It is all circulating at the moment, and a few weeks ago, I also caught COVID and was sick for a few days.

It can be difficult for some of us to get started again after being sick, and for others, it can be easy to do too much too soon. While I wasn’t sick for a long time, getting to the point where I felt 100% did take a bit more time than normal.

Remember that movement matters, and doing something light is better than not doing anything at all. We are all different, but here are some of my tips for restarting training after illness:

• Give yourself a bit of grace.
  If you are the type of person (like me) who wants to get back to it, it is better to remind yourself that if you do too much too soon can slow down the progress.
• Replace your training habits once you are up and about.
  What I mean here is that if you would normally go for a run, replace it with a walk. One of my clients did exactly this last week as she recovered from a cold last week. Or if you normally go to the gym, replace it with some sort of movement like light yoga.
  If you are a past or present client of mine, you can do some biomechanics exercises.
  Doing something at the time you normally train, keeps the momentum up for when you return to full training.
• Build up slowly.
  When you return back after illness, you may find that you have lost some fitness level, so it may take a week or two to get back to where you were. And that is ok, just take it slow and be consistent.
• If going back to your training doesn’t go well, be willing to step back again.
  I realised I did my first run back a bit too early, so I decided to take a full week off of running and cycling and just concentrated on swimming and gym until my lungs felt a bit happier. This made a huge difference and allowed me to get back on track.

I can help you gradually get back into training if have been sick, for example from colds or flus. Just email me to set up a free 30 minute session to find out more.