Getting Over Illness

Butcher's Dog! Regular outdoor fitness tips from the canine on creatine. Cold wet nose and glossy coat guaranteed. Getting Back After Illness! So, you've been as sick as a dog, but now you're over the worst of it, you're desperate to get out there in the hills or even just for a training session down the gym, but how long do you need to wait and what's been going on with your body? Don't Get Depressed First, don't get into the mindset that a week in bed's put you back to square one. Even two weeks of near inactivity isn't going to cause too much damage to your overall fitness, in fact, in some cases, the rest may do you good. The rate you lose fitness isn't fixed, or the same for everyone, but short periods of inactivity won't decimate you, even though it might feel that way... Muscles One thing that will suffer a little is muscle strength, particularly if you've been stuck in bed. Leg muscles in particular, can weaken quite rapidly, so don't expect to be able to walk as far, as hard and carrying as much as before you were ill. Keep your first few outings shorter than normal and stick to a light day pack. You'll build up leg strength soon enough. Cardio Vascular Stuff If you use a heart rate monitor, you'll probably find, post illness, that you're having to work harder to move at the same speed. Rather than pushing things harder, it's better to go by your heart rate and keep the effort down to a pre-determined level. Again, don't panic, things will improve gradually. It's also one of the ways you can start to gauge your recovery from illness. If you regularly take your pulse first thing in the mornng, before getting up, you'll get what's known as your resting pulse. If it's more than three beats per minute higher than normal, chances are that you're still not fully recovered. But it's not even that simple... IIlness Effects Some studies suggest that even once your resting pulse is back to normal, viruses can hang around for up to five days. If you try and work too hard, too soon, your immune system can weaken and kaboom, you're back to square one, or potentially even worse, and back to bed. So don't rush it, even if it means giving up on a long-planned outing. If you've had gastric problems, you also need to be aware that your reserves can be depleted. First, in the short term, you may still be dehyrated, so make sure you drink a lot of fluid and include some specialist rehydration mix like Dioralyte or a sports drink to replensish minerals and salts that you may be short of. The next problem is that if you haven't been eating, the glycogen reserves in your muscle and liver can be depleted. That's bad news as they're crucial for hard exercise and can take up to three days to replenish. Work too hard, too soon and you can find yourself in a vicious circle f depleted glycogen stores, which are never properly restored. Eat simple carbohydrate-rich foods and be aware that if you've effectively been fasting, it may take several days for your to fuel up properly. The Bottom Line It may just sound like common sense, but there are good reasons to take it easy for longer than you think when you've been unwell. Lance Armstrong's coach reckons you should take twice as long as you think necessary to get back into training and with good reason. When you do start getting out and about again, take it easy for the first few sessions. Keep your effort level below the point where you start to get breathless, cut the distance you walk and avoid big loads and listen to your body. If you feel disportionately tired, you may not be fully recovered, so rest up for a day or two and give your body a chance. It'll be worth it in the end. Woof!