AS THE WEATHER STARTS TO GET COLDER WE REALIZE THAT THE “COLD/FLU” SEASON IS UPON US. ITS NOT THE COLD WEATHER ITSELF THAT GETS US SUSCEPTIBLE TO ILLNESS, ITS THE FACT THAT YOUR BODY IS WORKING OVERTIME TO RAISE ITS CORE TEMPERATURE. WHEN IT DOES THIS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM LOWERS DUE TO THE FACT THAT SO MUCH ENERGY IS BEING USED TO KEEP HOMEOSTASIS. ALSO IMAGINE THE SAME CONCEPT AFTER A WORKOUT. YOU JUST TOOK YOUR BODY TO ITS PHYSICAL LIMITS, SWEAT, BLED AND CRIED YOURSELF THROUGH A GRUELING SESSION. WELL GUESS WHAT YOUR BODY IS DOING AFTER A WORKOUT? YOU GUESSED IT. ITS SPENDING EVERY BIT OF ENERGY TO RECOVER ITSELF FROM THE TRAUMA IN CASE YOU PUT IT THROUGH THE RINGER AGAIN IT WILL DO ITS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE ONSLAUGHT OF TRAUMA. THIS IS WHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS AT ITS LOWEST. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET SICK AND HAVE TO MISS A WEEK OF TRAINING? THATS ABOUT 2% OF YOUR ENTIRE YEAR. GET SICK 5 TIMES AND THE BEST GRADE YOU CAN GET IS A 90% (A-).

ITS DEFINITELY NOT SMART TO WORKOUT WHILE YOU’RE SICK, OR AS SOME SAY “JUST SWEAT IT OUT”. NOW YOUR BODY IS PUTTING ALL ITS ENERGY TO FIGHT OFF WHAT YOU HAVE THEN YOU GO AND PUT IT THROUGH TRAUMA AND TAKE AWAY FROM THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO ASK FOR ENERGY TO BE REDIRECTED TO RECOVERING FROM THE WORKOUT. BESIDES THEN YOU’RE SHARING YOUR GERMS WITH OTHERS AT THE GYM AND POTENTIALLY SETTING THEM BACK BY CATCHING WHATEVER YOU HAD, WHICH CAN MUTATE AND COME BACK TO YOU A MONTH LATER. I KNOW ITS HARD TO MISS YOUR WORKOUT, BUT TRY NOT TO FOCUS ON THE DAY TO DAY, BUT MORE ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE LIKE YOUR MONTH OR YEAR.

IN CLOSING THIS GOES WITHOUT SAY, BUT MAKE SURE YOU WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU WORKOUT, WIPE DOWN YOUR EQUIPMENT AFTER USE, AND WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY UPON FINISHING YOUR WORKOUT. THIS WILL DRASTICALLY DECREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF YOU GETTING ILL.

CALL ME A GERMAPHOBIC, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU I DONT LIKE TO MISS WORKOUTS, SO INSTEAD OF BEING LACKADASICAL AND GETTING SICK AND THEN WORKING OUT WHILE IM SICK ONLY TO UNDERPERFORM AND INCREASE THE CHANCE OF ME GETTING SICK AGAIN, I PUT FORTH A VALIANT EFFORT TO ENSURE I STAY HEALTHY.

COACHING, COMMUNITY AND C-L-E-A-N-L-I-N-E-S-S

P.S. I APOLOGIZE FOR ALL CAPS. I WASNT YELLING AT YOU GUYS.

~ WW