#TrueTalkTuesdays 6

If you are sick, stay home.

I know no one wants to miss a day of  training. I get that. You might not even be that sick, where it doesn’t really affect you too much. Just a small cough, or perhaps a small red dot on your arm. Nothing a cough drop or a band-aid wouldn’t cover up, right?

Well, I am going to to give you a couple reasons why you shouldn’t.

The Selfless – You do not want to be the person that gets your buddies sick.

You might think you can keep it to yourself. But diseases don’t care about what you think – they want to get around. And when you go to the gym to train, you are giving it the best opportunity to spread. I have seen ring worm dance circles around schools and bring about mass infections, the flu running through people, and even herpes out breaks.

All easily prevented by being responsible. Because understand, if you go the gym and you are sick, you are being selfish. You are putting your interests above all others. You are that person in a zombie movie that got bite and didn’t tell anyone about it – and everyone hates that guy…lol!

Bottom line – if you have a contagious illness, stay home and wait until you healed. Everyone will thank you for it.

The Selfish – You can make yourself worse.

Training is hard enough. Training under an illness will stress you even more than usual. You might get light headed, dizzy, or fatigue very quickly. As a result, you will be more likely to put yourself in bad positions and hurt yourself.

Have a skin infection and think none of this applies? Think again. Your skin barrier breaks down during training, which is why it is easier to get infected in the first place. Even if you are infected, you still can get more infected. I have seen people let one simple ring worm become an army of itchiness. 🙂

So what are your supposed to do?

Take the time to properly heal yourself. Get the right medications, or follow whatever protocol an expert suggests you take. You should take healing like you would a competition – and look to recover like a boss. After all, your health is one of the most important things you will care for. Take it seriously and be a professional. It is easier said then done.

When I said stay home, what I really meant is stay away from other people. You could still go for a run, lift weights, or some plyometrics. If it is a skin infection that ails you, you could still go the gym. Just stay off the mats, watch class and take notes.

You want to stay as active as you can without putting anyone at risk for infection or making your situation worse. I think at some point everyone has been guilty of being “ignorant” of an illness and training through whatever you have. Sometimes you can get away with it, but it only takes one time to cause an outbreak or further injury before you wish you didn’t.

If you are taking care of yourself properly, you should be okay within a week. Skin lesions can close with the proper medications and rest, while flu or colds will pass their infectious stage after a couple days. So it’s not like I’m asking you to quarantine yourself for a month.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

Comment with your take on this. And if you like this article, please do me a solid and share it with your friends. Thanks!