Your Best Body Ever

10 Sep 2009

Working out when sick – a good idea?

As summer comes to an end, flu and cold season is rapidly approaching. While you may be speeding steadily along on your workout schedule, and rarely missing a day, chances are that you may, at some point this fall or winter, be sidelined with some kind of illness.

I often see a lot of clients at the Diversified Health and Fitness gyms wiping their noses and coughing into their hands. While it’s not a bad idea to work out while slightly under the weather – say, a mild cold – there are some general guidelines to whether or not you should work out or just sit it out until you feel better.

So let’s say you feel like you’re coming down with something. This can vary from anything to a slight cold to a flu. Some experts think that if you even feel something coming on, you should avoid working out and go home and rest – if you’re sick, your body is trying to tell you something.

Perhaps you think you can make it to the gym that day, though. Maybe it’s just a little tickle in your throat, a little hacking cough. Working out with a mild cold is probably ok, most experts agree. And it can be hard to want to miss a day when you’re really feeling like you can do it.

If you’re running a fever, however, it’s best to skip the gym. Working out puts more stress on the heart, which is already beating faster due to your higher body temperature. If you’re taking certain kinds of medication, your heart rate can also increase, and combined with exercise, this can be dangerous. And if you’re suffering from chest congestion or a cough, or shortness of breath, it’s definitely better to skip your workout. I think it also goes without saying that if you have stomach flu symptoms, you’re probably not going to want to step foot in the gym either.

A lot of people mistakenly believe that exercising while working out sweats out the “toxins” in your system, and can actually help you get rid of a cold or flu faster. This is completely false, as toxins in your system do not leave your body through your sweat glands. Working out while sick can often prolong your illness as well, as your body doesn’t need the extra stress and should be using its energy reserves to fight off the illness.

When you’re feeling good enough to make it to the gym again, make sure you don’t go 100% your first time there, even if you’re really tempted to. I had a client today at Butterfly Life that recently got over the flu, and today we focused only on 10 minutes of light cardio (walking on the treadmill), some light weightlifting, and stretching. Next week, when she’s feeling even better, we’ll get back into her normal, intensive routine.

Exercise is great for boosting your immune system, it’s true. But when an illness comes on, listen to your body and take care of yourself! It’s not worth making yourself even sicker just so you don’t miss a workout.

31 Aug 2009

Caffeine and your workout

You might be one of those people who can’t function in the morning until they’ve had their first cup of coffee or tea. I train at most of my gyms early in the morning, so I know there are days when it’s my lifesaver. There are still conflicting reports on the benefits and perils of drinking caffeinated beverages on your overall health, and they seem to change on a yearly basis. However, what is less understood by many is that caffeine has been shown to have a positive effect on a few aspects of exercise.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. It’s found naturally in coffee beans, tea, chocolate, and is added to many carbonated beverages. It’s also found in some over the counter medications, such as weight loss pills, diuretics, and cold medicines. Most Americans get their daily caffeine from coffee.

When caffeine enters the body, it blocks a neurotransmitter called adenosine, which leads to the release of adrenaline, your “fight of flight” hormone. Your heart rate increases, your muscles tighten, and your pupils dilate. More glucose is released into the bloodstream, resulting in that “coffee buzz.”

Caffeine, in moderation, can:

1. Delay fatigue. While caffeine has not been shown to help short term, high intensity exercise, it has been shown to delay fatigue in long term, endurance activities such as running or long bike rides.

2.Slow the breakdown of muscle glycogen. Glycogen is the main source of fuel for muscles and exhaustion occurs when it becomes depleted. A secondary source of fuel for your muscles is fat. Caffeine has been shown to mobilize fat for use during exercise, staving off glycogen depletion and allowing for the prolonging of exercise.

3. Keeps you more alert. This has always been an obvious benefit of caffeine, but while you’re performing a specific sport that requires a great amount of concentration, caffeine can help you focus and be more aware of what you’re doing.

4. Can reduce muscle pain during exercise. Caffeine works on certain systems in the brain and spinal cord that are related to pain receptors. It has been shown to block feelings of pain that one would normally experience without caffeine in the system. While I would never recommend working out while in severe pain, a little muscular pain is quite common during a workout and this can help prevent those feelings and promote a better experience and more gains can be achieved as well.


5. May lower perceived exertion, making exercise feel more comfortable. While you’re working out, you’re generally very conscious of your ‘rate of perceived exertion”. When this rate seems too high, you’ll naturally back off of your workout and decrease your energy. Several studies point to caffeine consumption tricking your body into thinking that it’s not working as hard as it is, thereby allowing you to workout harder, longer.

6. Caffeine may reduce muscle soreness after a workout. Several promising studies show that post workout, caffeine is still working on the aforementioned central nervous system pain receptors, assisting with your pain perception post workout.


How much caffeine is enough? Studies suggest that even 3 mg/kg to 6mg/kg can enhance performance and desired effects. A cup of coffee has 60 to 120 mg, so even that can be enough.

If you’re like most of my Diversified Health and Fitness clients, you probably aren’t looking to overdo things. I think that’s always the key with anything – everything in moderation. So your morning cup of joe might help your workout, but don’t go overboard with too much caffeine, which also can have bad side effects. If you are a competitive athlete, do even more research to understand how caffeine could affect your next race or event.

31 Jul 2009

Fitness Myths: Does not eating anything before your morning workout help you burn more calories and fat?

This is a common and generally misunderstood concept. And if you workout in the morning, it’s probably something you face all the time: Eat and workout? Or workout now and eat later?

The physiological basics behind the idea are this: Your body uses carbohydrates for its’ easiest and most readily available energy source. Carbohydrates are stored in your body as glycogen, and when you wake up in the morning, your glycogen stores are fairly depleted. Your body will then turn to generating energy from other sources, mainly from your stored fat and protein reserves.

However, your body doesn’t start tapping into its’ fat reserves until after about 20 minutes into your workout. That means protein is turned to first as an energy source, and the main way the body will garner protein is by burning up your muscle tissue. So while you’d have a small fat burning advantage for a short while, when you’re trying to build up your lean muscles, this is definitely the wrong way to go!

The same goes for your caloric intake. Studies have repeatedly shown that exercising on an empty stomach doesn’t burn any more calories than if you eat a small snack before your workout. You’ll also start to feel tired and worn out not too long after you start, which is likely to make you stop exercising sooner, and it can lead to unpleasant issues such as overexertion, dizziness, and dehydration. Also contrary to popular belief, working out on an empty stomach doesn’t give your metabolism a jump start, and you’re more likely to eat a greater amount post workout as your blood sugar is lower, creating ravenous hunger. In addition, if you’re doing a weight training workout, doing so on empty reserves will result in your muscles not working properly. Clearly, the negative issues you’ll face while exercising on an empty stomach far are not worth the small fat burning gain.

So now that I’ve established how important it is to eat something before your morning workout, what should you be eating? You don’t have to eat much - the best snack to have before exercising should be something light (100 – 300 calories), and something containing carbohydrates and protein. Yogurt mixed with some low fat granola, whole wheat toast with some peanut butter, or egg whites with half an English muffin are all excellent ideas. Fruit smoothies are another great source of energy, and often liquid foods are processed more easily in the stomach. Keeping the meal to a smaller size will give you the energy you need, as a larger meal might create stomach cramping issues while the body is digesting. It’s a great idea to eat this small snack about a half hour before you plan to exercise to give your body time to process it and be ready to get up and go.

So give yourself a boost and don’t run your tank on empty – your car can’t run like this and neither should you! Your body will be grateful.