Just last week, I struggled to be honest with myself to answer this question.

That’s tough to do — be honest with yourself — when you’re in a groove with your training and nutrition. When everything is synchronized and clicking, it’s really hard to just stop everything and lay around all day, even if that’s what best for you.

If we can take a step back and look at the bigger picture, though, the answer to this question becomes pretty clear.

When you go to the gym and train, you cause damage and fatigue within your body. Your body then needs to focus its efforts on recovery after that training session to repair tissues and adapt in order to better handle that type of stimulus again in the future.

Similarly, when you’re sick your body is focusing its efforts on recovery. Your immune system has been impaired and is more susceptible to further sickness while attempting to recover.

Being in a gym full of other people and germs is probably not the right atmosphere for you at that time, with your immune system compromised. And working out in general — even if you’re contemplating running outside or being active within the comfort of your own home — would cause an internal competition between your immune system and post-workout recovery mechanisms.

That’s a lot of stress to place on your body. It’s pretty unnecessary.

Yes, you’ve been on a roll lately. Yes, not working out would put a pause on all of the progress you’ve made.

However, it doesn’t eliminate your progress, and working out under the conditions of being sick may prolong your overall recovery, thus delaying the future progress you’re able to make with your training or exercise.

While there seem to be pros and cons for both resting and getting after it, the best idea is probably to take at least a day to rest and recover your entire body.

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CG