Exercising While Sick

Someone remind to just not go to the gym when I'm feeling under the weather.

The thing is, I'm not even that sick. I've got the remnants of a mild cold - some slight congestion and an occasional cough. Mostly I've just been tired, which could actually be more related to the lack of sunlight. At any rate, by the time I finish work I'm exhausted. So I've mostly been skipping the gym.

But I'm also paying a trainer to meet with me every week. I'm doing this so that I don't just stop going to the gym entirely in late Fall, like I have the past two years. Since I wasn't actually that sick, and since I don't want to stop working out entirely, I've been keeping these appointments.

Last week was okay. I told my trainer I was feeling a bit sick and we went slow. We did easier exercises and I was careful to stop when I felt myself approaching limits, which was happening quickly.

The biggest thing I noticed was a lack of balance. I don't have the greatest core muscles yet, so I usually expend a lot of brainpower making sure I stay upright. As fatigued as I was, I wasn't able to concentrate on this quite so much. So I had to go slow, use less weight, take more breaks.

I made it through last week without any injuries, though I was so exhausted I could barely stand by the end of it. This week I was feeling better, so I decided to go for a full workout. It turns out this was a bad idea.

About 15 minutes in, while I was doing my second set of squats, something went wrong. The next squat hurt in a way it wasn't supposed to. I quickly realized that I couldn't bend my left knee or put any weight on it. I'm not even sure what I did, except that I distinctly remember my knee hurting in exactly the same way a few times over the last decade or so.

We concentrated on arms and abs for the rest of the work out. I managed to hobble home, where I wrapped and iced my knee. Now I'm just hoping that it doesn't take too long to heal. I'd like to get to the gym this weekend, since I'll actually have time. But if I can't walk it'll be a moot point.