No matter how hard you try to eat healthfully and take care of yourself, when cold and flu season comes, you can still be sidelined by a "bug". And when this happens, you can't always just pick up where you left off. I know that some of the health magazines say you can even still work out with a cold, but sorry, when I am sick, I am just not that dedicated. Holding a dumbbell in one hand and a tissue with the other is not my idea of a good workout. Besides, I think not spreading your germs to the gym's population is very considerate.
This February I was struck with a case of really bad flu after a trip to Mexico, so I couldn't do my walking workouts, kickboxing or my weight training during, or for a bit after, my illness. Towards the end of week two was when I felt like I wanted to work out again, but I was very afraid of a "relapse". That's all I heard when I told people I was just getting over the flu, and I certainly didn't want to go through what I had all over again, so I did gradually phase myself into my old routine. Here's how I "got my groove back"; you should consult with your team of healthcare professionals about what's best for you.
1. Since the weather was beautiful where I live in Southern California, I decided the easiest thing would be to start off with walking. Not only was it simple, but it would give me a change of scenery and fresh air (at least as fresh as we get). Day one it was to my local Mail Boxes, Etc. and back. "Very sad", I thought to myself. That was a one mile roundtrip and I felt like I did my usual 4-6 miles! Nap time! I increased my distance a little more each day, and by the end of the week I was up to 3 miles, but it still felt like double that. It would take another two weeks before I could really hit my stride again.
2. After I "learned to walk" again, I decided that weight training should be next. After all, I got to sit or lie down on a bench for a lot of it. Plus, my biceps seemed to have disappeared--maybe I left them in Mexico? I did a little better here. I made a deal with myself to do just one set of 12-15 reps for each exercise and I actually got two sets in for every one. Not bad, that was only one set below the norm for me (I usually do 3 sets of an exercise and use what are known as "drop sets" for some key exercises; a drop set is when you use heaviest weights on your first set when you are freshest, and then decrease the weight for other sets). But after the first session, I was exhausted. To get back to my usual weight routine, I only did weights twice a week instead of my usual three and added two reps to each exercise every workout until I was back to my three full sets. It took some time, but my muscles responded well. Apparently I didn't leave my biceps in Mexico after all.
3. I added back kickboxing last as it was the most intense. I made sure to pace myself and take more frequent water breaks than usual. Since I already had my walking and weight routines back to their pre-flu levels, I was fine beginning with the second kickboxing class.
So overall, I found that while it was a struggle initially to get myself active again (since the mind was willing, but the body wasn't quite there), it really didn't take all that long and I did not suffer the dreaded relapse everyone warned me about. The key was to gradually phase my former activity levels back in--shorter, slower walks at first, fewer sets and reps of weights (I could also have reduced the amount of my weights) and saving the most intense exercise for last.
