Training Through Illness

Everybody who trains will at some time become ill. The illness I am referring to in this article is a cold, or flu, nothing more than that. Headaches, aching limbs and eyes, dizziness and sore throats, these are the symptoms which are common to colds and the flu. The question is, is it best to train through these illnesses? Karate Do Legend Gichin Funakoshi, in his book, Karate Do My Way of Life explains how he regularly trains. He also says that when he becomes ill, he trains for an extra amount of time. The training which he describes though is kata. Because kata is something which can be practised alone, although he trained longer, odds are that he didn’t train with the same speed and intensity than when he wasn’t ill.

I think the type of training depends greatly on weather to train or not through illness. For grapplers, with all the heavy pushing, pulling and hitting the floor through throws and takedowns, it may be wise to stop this type of training when ill, and maybe concentrate on light stretching and not too vigorous bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises may also pay off for weight lifters and bodybuilders. Instead of going up against 300 KG’s on the bench press, do some press-ups or light cardio instead. Strikers should cut out heavy sparring, but light bag work, using shallow stances and low kicks instead of high ones may be acceptable. Keeping active and forcing a light sweat has proved to be effective for me when training through illness. That, along with drinking plenty of water and trying to maintain a well balanced diet has helped me recover to full potential quickly, in order to carry on with my normal training routine.