What are your protocols for training when you're ill? How do you treat your colds?

[Ivan]

Hi everyone. I want to start off by mentioning that I tend to get ill very often. I catch colds quite a lot, mixed in with the odd fever every now and then. I should mention my mum never gets ill, and my dad also gets ill more than usual but not as much as me. I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to stay home when I am ill, partly because sometimes I feel that it is not excusable. All of this started around 3 years ago, the summer when COVID hit. I tested multiple times and I was negative for the virus each time, but I had a very bad cold or flu that would not go away for 3 months. I refused to stay home and continued to train the entire time. I decided to finally see a GP for it after one of my training partners told me my cough sounded really bad and I should get it checked out. My cough was super hoarse and came all the way down from my chest, a horrible noise. I constantly had a stuffed-up nose, painful chest/lungs, and sometimes a sore throat. My GP told me I needed to take time off to recover as I had a lung infection and prescribed me antibiotics, which cleared everything up.

However, ever since then, I am super susceptible to colds and such. My main symptom is a highly blocked nose and thick mucus, and 9 times out of 10 it will not go away unless I stop training. However, I always feel like stopping training for an indefinite amount of time, sometimes even for a week, is too extreme. I have tried a lot of things from preventative to treating. Tea with honey, lime, ginger, vitamin supplements, root extracts, and cold showers to no avail. Having to skip training for this stuff makes me feel like I am simply conjuring up excuses from thin air. The main thought that sticks out to me is a quote from the book Angry White Pyjamas: "If you are looking for an excuse but you don't have one, your body will make one for you".

Right now, I have been suffering from a super stuffed nose for the past 3 weeks. Three weeks ago or so I returned from Scotland with a super stuffy nose, and a week later after that I went to Italy for a Roger Gracie training camp. I learnt a lot and it was a great experience. My nose had just started to clear up when the airline I flew back with decided it was a marvelous idea to crank the AC to the lowest temperature possible. Some people say that catching colds from cold air and such is a myth, but every time I have fallen ill seems to have been triggered by cold gym temperatures at a gym, an AC or a draft from a window at a BJJ gym.

I went to an open mat yesterday and rolling with a stuffed nose is the worst experience. I find it difficult to control my breathing properly to mitigate pressure in bad positions, and I constantly feel like there is mucus in the back of my throat. I am at my wits end. I've also tried taking allergy tablets for a week to see if it was some allergic reaction to dust which I used to have as a child or something else, also to no avail. I am competing in a month, and feeling like I am making excuses to slack off training is a feeling that genuinely disgusts me. If any of you have any remedies that work for you, or preventative measures, or advice for training through stuffy noses, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Don't train when ill. Please. Especially if it's something contagious (which it sounds like it likely is for you).
If you really feel the need to, do solo drills during that time. But otherwise, you're just making it likely your training partners will get sick.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

What Monkey Turned Wolf said.

One of the things I remember from my time in Okinawa in the 1980s in the Marines was that I often saw Okinawan civilians wearing masks. I thought it was because they were afraid of catching a bug. I was corrected and told that no, they wore the masks because they had a cold and didn't want to spread it to others.

In the Western world, we just don't have that kind of consideration of other people.

If you're sick, stay home.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Hi everyone. I want to start off by mentioning that I tend to get ill very often. I catch colds quite a lot, mixed in with the odd fever every now and then. I should mention my mum never gets ill, and my dad also gets ill more than usual but not as much as me. I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to stay home when I am ill, partly because sometimes I feel that it is not excusable. All of this started around 3 years ago, the summer when COVID hit. I tested multiple times and I was negative for the virus each time, but I had a very bad cold or flu that would not go away for 3 months. I refused to stay home and continued to train the entire time. I decided to finally see a GP for it after one of my training partners told me my cough sounded really bad and I should get it checked out. My cough was super hoarse and came all the way down from my chest, a horrible noise. I constantly had a stuffed-up nose, painful chest/lungs, and sometimes a sore throat. My GP told me I needed to take time off to recover as I had a lung infection and prescribed me antibiotics, which cleared everything up.

However, ever since then, I am super susceptible to colds and such. My main symptom is a highly blocked nose and thick mucus, and 9 times out of 10 it will not go away unless I stop training. However, I always feel like stopping training for an indefinite amount of time, sometimes even for a week, is too extreme. I have tried a lot of things from preventative to treating. Tea with honey, lime, ginger, vitamin supplements, root extracts, and cold showers to no avail. Having to skip training for this stuff makes me feel like I am simply conjuring up excuses from thin air. The main thought that sticks out to me is a quote from the book Angry White Pyjamas: "If you are looking for an excuse but you don't have one, your body will make one for you".

Right now, I have been suffering from a super stuffed nose for the past 3 weeks. Three weeks ago or so I returned from Scotland with a super stuffy nose, and a week later after that I went to Italy for a Roger Gracie training camp. I learnt a lot and it was a great experience. My nose had just started to clear up when the airline I flew back with decided it was a marvelous idea to crank the AC to the lowest temperature possible. Some people say that catching colds from cold air and such is a myth, but every time I have fallen ill seems to have been triggered by cold gym temperatures at a gym, an AC or a draft from a window at a BJJ gym.

I went to an open mat yesterday and rolling with a stuffed nose is the worst experience. I find it difficult to control my breathing properly to mitigate pressure in bad positions, and I constantly feel like there is mucus in the back of my throat. I am at my wits end. I've also tried taking allergy tablets for a week to see if it was some allergic reaction to dust which I used to have as a child or something else, also to no avail. I am competing in a month, and feeling like I am making excuses to slack off training is a feeling that genuinely disgusts me. If any of you have any remedies that work for you, or preventative measures, or advice for training through stuffy noses, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.

Stretch. Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, or any light stretching exercises.

The heart circulates blood, but you need locomotion to circulate and drain the lymphatic system and other fluid buildup. Massage is also effective, esp if you have swollen ankles, wrists, etc. Push that fluid around and out.

Cold temperature will definitely make phlegm and congestion worse (cold thickens the goop). My usual is a hot shower and tea before a workout when I'm feeling goopy.

You can also try neti pot, with a lukewarm saline solution, which works magic on the sinuses once you learn to do it right. Your sinus passage, because of what it does, has a nasty habit of catching all sorts of daily funk.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Heal first, Train later

 

[JowGaWolf]

Hi everyone. I want to start off by mentioning that I tend to get ill very often. I catch colds quite a lot, mixed in with the odd fever every now and then. I should mention my mum never gets ill, and my dad also gets ill more than usual but not as much as me. I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to stay home when I am ill, partly because sometimes I feel that it is not excusable. All of this started around 3 years ago, the summer when COVID hit. I tested multiple times and I was negative for the virus each time, but I had a very bad cold or flu that would not go away for 3 months. I refused to stay home and continued to train the entire time. I decided to finally see a GP for it after one of my training partners told me my cough sounded really bad and I should get it checked out. My cough was super hoarse and came all the way down from my chest, a horrible noise. I constantly had a stuffed-up nose, painful chest/lungs, and sometimes a sore throat. My GP told me I needed to take time off to recover as I had a lung infection and prescribed me antibiotics, which cleared everything up.

However, ever since then, I am super susceptible to colds and such. My main symptom is a highly blocked nose and thick mucus, and 9 times out of 10 it will not go away unless I stop training. However, I always feel like stopping training for an indefinite amount of time, sometimes even for a week, is too extreme. I have tried a lot of things from preventative to treating. Tea with honey, lime, ginger, vitamin supplements, root extracts, and cold showers to no avail. Having to skip training for this stuff makes me feel like I am simply conjuring up excuses from thin air. The main thought that sticks out to me is a quote from the book Angry White Pyjamas: "If you are looking for an excuse but you don't have one, your body will make one for you".

Right now, I have been suffering from a super stuffed nose for the past 3 weeks. Three weeks ago or so I returned from Scotland with a super stuffy nose, and a week later after that I went to Italy for a Roger Gracie training camp. I learnt a lot and it was a great experience. My nose had just started to clear up when the airline I flew back with decided it was a marvelous idea to crank the AC to the lowest temperature possible. Some people say that catching colds from cold air and such is a myth, but every time I have fallen ill seems to have been triggered by cold gym temperatures at a gym, an AC or a draft from a window at a BJJ gym.

I went to an open mat yesterday and rolling with a stuffed nose is the worst experience. I find it difficult to control my breathing properly to mitigate pressure in bad positions, and I constantly feel like there is mucus in the back of my throat. I am at my wits end. I've also tried taking allergy tablets for a week to see if it was some allergic reaction to dust which I used to have as a child or something else, also to no avail. I am competing in a month, and feeling like I am making excuses to slack off training is a feeling that genuinely disgusts me. If any of you have any remedies that work for you, or preventative measures, or advice for training through stuffy noses, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.

What I'm not seeing here is preventive measures, catching issues early, and seeing the doctor. Males have a bad habit of getting treatment early. We try to tough it out which is not health. As soon as you feel off, you should start treatment for what you think is coming. This means getting rest, eating healthier, and not over working the body. You are should also see if your illness is seasonal. If so there are things you can do to get a jump on that. You'll have to talk to your doctor about that.

When I was a teen my doctor told me if I don't see improvement in 5 days then see a doctor. I personally cut that down to 3 days. If I don't see improvement on 3 days then I'm calling a doctor. I'm learning to do that with my body injuries as well. I don't know about Japanese Martial arts but there are many stories if Chinese Martial Artist dying simply because they didn't rest like they should. Heal first Train later.

 

[Oily Dragon]

What I'm not seeing here is preventive measures, catching issues early, and seeing the doctor. Males have a bad habit of getting treatment early. We try to tough it out which is not health. As soon as you feel off, you should start treatment for what you think is coming. This means getting rest, eating healthier, and not over working the body. You are should also see if your illness is seasonal. If so there are things you can do to get a jump on that. You'll have to talk to your doctor about that.

When I was a teen my doctor told me if I don't see improvement in 5 days then see a doctor. I personally cut that down to 3 days. If I don't see improvement on 3 days then I'm calling a doctor. I'm learning to do that with my body injuries as well. I don't know about Japanese Martial arts but there are many stories if Chinese Martial Artist dying simply because they didn't rest like they should. Heal first Train later.

Training and healing/recovery can be the same thing. physical therapy is a kind of training. I view a lot of the CMA soft Qigong in the same way.

In this case I agree, training means grappling, and grappling is not going to make you feel better if you're already feeling goopy, and many people suffer from this their whole lives, chronically.

Menthol cough drops are very effective in a crunch.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

When I had temperature, I tried to sweat. When I was

- kid, my parent would put 5 blankets over my body,
- young, I could do 30 tornado kicks non-stop,
- older, I could run 3 miles,

After I could sweat, my temperature dropped.

I mentioned this to my doctor. He did not agree with my method. But it works for me.

 

[HighKick]

Hi everyone. I want to start off by mentioning that I tend to get ill very often. I catch colds quite a lot, mixed in with the odd fever every now and then. I should mention my mum never gets ill, and my dad also gets ill more than usual but not as much as me. I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to stay home when I am ill, partly because sometimes I feel that it is not excusable. All of this started around 3 years ago, the summer when COVID hit. I tested multiple times and I was negative for the virus each time, but I had a very bad cold or flu that would not go away for 3 months. I refused to stay home and continued to train the entire time. I decided to finally see a GP for it after one of my training partners told me my cough sounded really bad and I should get it checked out. My cough was super hoarse and came all the way down from my chest, a horrible noise. I constantly had a stuffed-up nose, painful chest/lungs, and sometimes a sore throat. My GP told me I needed to take time off to recover as I had a lung infection and prescribed me antibiotics, which cleared everything up.

However, ever since then, I am super susceptible to colds and such. My main symptom is a highly blocked nose and thick mucus, and 9 times out of 10 it will not go away unless I stop training. However, I always feel like stopping training for an indefinite amount of time, sometimes even for a week, is too extreme. I have tried a lot of things from preventative to treating. Tea with honey, lime, ginger, vitamin supplements, root extracts, and cold showers to no avail. Having to skip training for this stuff makes me feel like I am simply conjuring up excuses from thin air. The main thought that sticks out to me is a quote from the book Angry White Pyjamas: "If you are looking for an excuse but you don't have one, your body will make one for you".

Right now, I have been suffering from a super stuffed nose for the past 3 weeks. Three weeks ago or so I returned from Scotland with a super stuffy nose, and a week later after that I went to Italy for a Roger Gracie training camp. I learnt a lot and it was a great experience. My nose had just started to clear up when the airline I flew back with decided it was a marvelous idea to crank the AC to the lowest temperature possible. Some people say that catching colds from cold air and such is a myth, but every time I have fallen ill seems to have been triggered by cold gym temperatures at a gym, an AC or a draft from a window at a BJJ gym.

I went to an open mat yesterday and rolling with a stuffed nose is the worst experience. I find it difficult to control my breathing properly to mitigate pressure in bad positions, and I constantly feel like there is mucus in the back of my throat. I am at my wits end. I've also tried taking allergy tablets for a week to see if it was some allergic reaction to dust which I used to have as a child or something else, also to no avail. I am competing in a month, and feeling like I am making excuses to slack off training is a feeling that genuinely disgusts me. If any of you have any remedies that work for you, or preventative measures, or advice for training through stuffy noses, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.

I strongly suggest you get a second opinion from a completely different doctor, not a GP but a lung specialist. Yes, you may need a referral from your GP. Don't train sick, for your own sake and your partners sake.

I do know more than a few people who train heavy that use both an inhaler and nose spray before sessions, but they all freely admit it is a slippery slope do go down and can easily mask symptoms that need to be treated.
It is more for people who has had a broken nose and such.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When I had temperature, I tried to sweat. When I was

- kid, my parent would put 5 blankets over my body,
- young, I could do 30 tornado kicks non-stop,
- older, I could run 3 miles,

After I could sweat, my temperature dropped.

I mentioned this to my doctor. He did not agree with my method. But it works for me.

Sometimes you can raise the body temperature but not all the times. You don't want to cook your brain lol

it is a slippery slope do go down and can easily mask symptoms that need to be treated.

This is what scares me the most about pain killers. That it will mask something that I need to actually heal or treat the root cause. Some things just don't heal on their own.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Sometimes you can raise the body temperature but not all the times. You don't want to cook your brain lol

This may be why my doctor don't agree with me on this.

 

[Holmejr]

Relax, do tv remote lifts. Stay hydrated with slightly warm water.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Sometimes you can raise the body temperature but not all the times. You don't want to cook your brain lol

Urban myth. Denaturing of the proteins in the brain occurs at 108F. Fever does not cause brain damage.

This is what scares me the most about pain killers. That it will mask something that I need to actually heal or treat the root cause. Some things just don't heal on their own.

Treating symptoms is fine, while something heals. Or while you're treating the cause. Treating symptoms instead of the cause is a bad idea.

 

[Dirty Dog]

To expand on the above...

The notion that fever is bad is incorrect. Fever is part of the bodies immune response. It makes the body less hospitable to the virus or bacteria causing the infection. That means it replicates slower. Which means there is less to kill.

There have been numerous studies that show you will absolutely recover faster if you leave fever untreated. But there's no reason to be miserable. If the fever is causing chills, body aches, etc, that is the time to treat it. Treat the blah, not the fever. If you're running a fever but not feeling too bad, leave the fever alone.

As for working out, do it at home. Refusing to stay home just means you're infecting everybody around you. Wear a mask if you must go out.

 

[skribs]

How many of those colds are colds, and how many are allergies?

The more I'm learning about allergies, the more I'm realizing that 90% of the time I took off because I was sick, it was just allergies. I would consult with a doctor to be sure.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

How many of those colds are colds, and how many are allergies?

The more I'm learning about allergies, the more I'm realizing that 90% of the time I took off because I was sick, it was just allergies. I would consult with a doctor to be sure.

As someone with asthma who is allergic to just about everything that grows in the state of Kentucky, this is an ongoing dilemma for me. If I have a cold, then I don't want to go to the gym and infect my training partners. If it's just allergies, then I don't want to miss out on training. Unfortunately, at the beginning stages of a cold it can be hard to distinguish between the two. (Also sometimes the irritation from allergies can leave me vulnerable to upper respiratory infections.)

Ultimately I just do my best to listen to my body and judge the situation. Usually I get it right, but not always.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Urban myth. Denaturing of the proteins in the brain occurs at 108F. Fever does not cause brain damage.

Thank you for the correction. I was basing it on when my friend got sick, and they made him take an ice bath to lower his body temperature. I guess I didn't understand what my friend was explaining to me.

Treating symptoms instead of the cause is a bad idea.

Yes this is what I meant.

 

[JowGaWolf]

To expand on the above...

The notion that fever is bad is incorrect. Fever is part of the bodies immune response. It makes the body less hospitable to the virus or bacteria causing the infection. That means it replicates slower. Which means there is less to kill.

There have been numerous studies that show you will absolutely recover faster if you leave fever untreated. But there's no reason to be miserable. If the fever is causing chills, body aches, etc, that is the time to treat it. Treat the blah, not the fever. If you're running a fever but not feeling too bad, leave the fever alone.

As for working out, do it at home. Refusing to stay home just means you're infecting everybody around you. Wear a mask if you must go out.

This is why I don't worry about being correct. Being wrong just means that I'm going to learn something lol. For me it always opens the opportunity for useful info. Thanks again for correcting me. I appreciate it. Better than just me walking around with bad info .

 

[JowGaWolf]

How many of those colds are colds, and how many are allergies?

The more I'm learning about allergies, the more I'm realizing that 90% of the time I took off because I was sick, it was just allergies. I would consult with a doctor to be sure.

Mine are most allergies that turn into something else Me and Pollen season are best friends lol. not.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Also sometimes the irritation from allergies can leave me vulnerable to upper respiratory infections.

I have the same issue. If I don't hop on my allergies ASAP it morphs into a nightmare. My problem is that I often allow my body to stay congested for too long and then it's gets to the point where I wish I could just open my nose and scoop it out. When it gets to that point then that's when I have problems. Spring pollen and Fall pollen is what I need to watch out for. Out of all the people in my neighborhood, My next door neighbor has the one tree that produces pollen in the fall.