How long to stop exercise with chest congestion symptoms

[Jingthing]

I've had some symptoms recently including runny nose, sore throat, chest congestion, upper respiratory mucus, coughing to get rid of the mucus. Possibly fever but if so, probably not high or I would have felt that. The mucus coughed up has been mostly clear or white. I think that's a sign it's not very serious. Breathing issues not serious enough to concern me though, even though I am asthmatic on meds.

 

Well, I haven't done much except I started to drink some mint tea which seems to help clear more mucus, but it didn't seem to be getting better quickly enough. Sore throat mostly gone though. So went online with the question about exercise which I have been doing because I suspected continuing my exercise might be the reason for not healing quickly enough.

 

The gist of what I read says definitely stop exercise with chest congestion/mucus. So I did that and there was a pretty dramatic improvement within a day. But I'm also reading after you get better, to cut the exercise for TWO WEEKS. That's a long time to stop exercise as generally I really need the regular exercise to feel well.

 

So the question here, other than seeking the obvious "see a doctor" is whether people agree that stopping exercise for two weeks is really needed. I can see now definitely during the acute phase, but two weeks after seems kind of extreme to me. Not talking about running marathons. Just aerobic sessions on my home rower. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by Jingthing

[robblok]

I think 2 weeks is a bit much.. but you can certainly don't have to start again the moment you feel good. You could also exercise at a lower pace or lower weight or intensity. 

 

When I am really sick i just don't exercise and only start when i feel good again. Just try exercise on your rower at a lower pace. 

 

The reason people stop exercise is usually because exercise takes time to recover from. But if you exercise at real low intensity you don't have that problem.

[Sheryl]

I can't think of any physiological reason to refrain from exercise once you are feeling better.

[Jingthing]

23 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I can't think of any physiological reason to refrain from exercise once you are feeling better.

Thanks, Sheryl.

I should have saved the link where it said stop for two weeks. I think it was from WebMd but I can't find it again.

To add, as far as quitting while ill, the consensus advice seemed to be no need to stop at all if the symptoms are all above the neck, but below, take a break.