Valid Exercise Excusers

When your immune system is working overtime to fight an infection, exercise adds to its burden.

So don’t exercise when:

You have a fever: You’re better off taking a break than breaking a sweat. When your body temperature rises

above 99 degrees Fahrenheit, your risk of heart failure or dehydration during exercise vastly increases. So wait

until your temperature has been normal for at least twenty-four hours before you start to exercise again.

You’re taking antibiotics: A study reported in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that at least one antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, can damage tendon tissue, increasing your risk of injury when exercising.2 Other antibiotics may cause additional problems. If your doctor has prescribed a long-term course of antibiotics, be sure to ask him or her about possible side effects with exercise and find out when it’s safe to start or resume your exercise routine.

You have an intense headache: Headaches are caused by excess flow of blood to the vessels in the scalp and neck. So even if all you’ve got is a migraine or tension headache, exercise is going to make you feel worse.

You have cold or flu symptoms, especially coughing, achiness, and fatigue, or you have a severe sore throat, bronchitis, or pneumonia: Exercise invites your lungs to work extrahard, expanding your lung capacity and flooding your body with healing oxygen. But if you’ve got a cold, flu, or related disorder, all that deep breathing will set off a round of coughing that will only make you feel worse. And when you have an infection—in your lungs, your throat, or anywhere else—your body needs all its resources to fight off the illness. So heed the message your body is sending you and give yourself the rest you obviously need. You’ll exercise all the better when your infection is defeated.