By Bri Groves, Swimming World Intern
It’s that time of year again, the dreaded cold and flu season. Unfortunately, the nature of swimming and our competition schedule makes us highly susceptible to all of these germs. Increased training followed by periods of high intensity racing lead to increased cortisone production and weakening of the immune system. If you’re currently healthy, keep up those good habits and precautionary measures. If you’re nursing an illness, check out these guidelines for exercising.
The Physical Aspect
The amount, intensity, and type of exercise that you perform while you’re sick all have an impact on your wellbeing but your symptoms, illness, and immune system play an even more crucial role. While every case is different, Keith Veselik, M.D., of Loyola University Health System suggests that getting sick is a sign that your body needs to slow down. While light activity may be tolerable or even improve symptoms with certain illnesses, it can be dangerous to exercise with more severe symptoms. If you have a fever, body aches, upset stomach, or lightheadedness you should take the day off. Veselik emphasizes that even after you’ve stopped presenting symptoms, the recovery process is taxing and therefore individuals should ease back into exercise. Read more about Veselik’s opinion on exercise here.
The Social Risks
Swimming while you’re sick is more than a personal decision. Before choosing to attend or miss practice, you should also consider the implications. While chlorine is supposed to kill off all the nasty stuff in pools, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some chlorine-resistant pathogens can survive for multiple days in chlorinated water, potentially causing others to get sick even after you’ve left. The CDC also notes that some public pools maintain below recommended levels of chlorine, so illnesses may spread even in the case of non-resistant germs. In addition to the actual pool, there are plenty of surfaces and contact opportunities for germs to spread. If you are highly contagious, your attendance may cause the rest of your team to quickly become infected or it may spread to recreational swimmers.
Emotionally Preparing Yourself
When you’re sick, your body is diverting all possible resources to sites of infection. Stressful activities, such as vigorous and intense exercise, requires many of the same resources. When you’re sick and you choose to practice at the same intensity, you are splitting your resources. It is not wonder then why some athletes who continue to train throughout an illness find the recovery process longer and have a harder time hitting times. For this reason, medical professionals advise lowering exercise and stress-inducing situations in hopes of a speedy recovery. While being out of the water may seem like a setback, swimming through an illness can be equally frustrating.
Making the Decision
The decision to swim or not to swim is ultimately yours. While taking off several days of training may appear to be a setback, it may actually lead to a speedier recovery in the case of more severe illnesses. In contrast, if you’ve just got a minor case of the sniffles the risk of exercising is relatively low and it may actually help improve your symptoms. Regardless of the illness, medical professionals generally recommend listening to your body and symptoms to make the call. Even minor colds can be a draining experience and if your body is asking for rest, listen to it. If you choose to exercise during the illness or recovery period, consider dialing down your normal workout routine. Instead of attending practice, complete a light stretch-out swim or even a walk to get your blood pumping. The lower intensity session will leave more energy for your body to fight off the remaining pathogens.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
This is a passive-aggressive guideline. Well….maybe if this, then that, kinda/sorta Sorry. Teams should have some sort of policy in place, i.e. sick = stay home. Do not disrespect yourself or your teammates by spreading your germs. It is just plain rude. I agree illness is a body’s way of saying “slow down”. Listen. JMO
Naomi Harris Josh Harris good read ?
Brittany Biggs um… I don’t think we really followed this.