HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

OT - Colds and the gym

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 12/19/2007 3:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hey!  Everytime I commit to going to the gym again I come down with a cold.  Do you think it is coincidence or do you think with all the sweaty huffing and puffing people there germs are breeding like crazy.  I am not on immunosupressants and generally have a pretty good immune system.  Could working out LOWER my immune system? Or am I just exposed to more germs? Or is it just a coincidence?
Posted 12/19/2007 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
Exercise does lower your immunity while you're doing it and for a short time afterward.  Also, gyms are incredibly germy.  So it's a bad combination.  Of course, over all it makes you healthier.  But for the time you're actually working out, you're at an increased risk.  A lot of gyms have antiseptic wipes available.  Maybe if you wipe each machine down before you use it that will help.

Posted 12/19/2007 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
this is so true. That happened to me felt good went to gym got strength back and starting going then get sick back in hospital happened about 3 times. So def has something to do with gym running yourself down. Maybe even though you feel good to go could be too soon to get back into it. This time i took it very slow. Only going for 20 mintues and then building on that. Im on immunosuppresents and been okay.
Posted 12/19/2007 6:25 PM (GMT 0)
Could very well be coincidence but make sure you never work-out while you are sick with a cold.

:)
Posted 12/19/2007 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
Viruses simply LOOOVE the gym. First of all, you have all that sweat and humid air; they thrive in that stuff. Also, you have people wiping their noses and hacking all over the place and then not cleaning off the equipment, so there's another component. Using those wipes and washing your hands before and after you work out, and making sure you're not grabbing at your mucous membranes in your eyes/nose/mouth too frequently, would probably help you steer clear.

Taking a zinc supplement can also fend off the adenoviruses and rhinoviruses (which cause the common cold!).
Posted 12/19/2007 10:11 PM (GMT 0)
Zinc really helps me but once I got diagnosed w/ Crohns I couldn't take it anymore. Just one Zinc pill and I would vomit white foam like a rabid dog. I can handle Zycam though. Maybe I will pick some of that up. I take some herbal cough drop like things that have Vitamen C and Zinc in them. Hopefully that will help.
Posted 12/20/2007 3:19 AM (GMT 0)
I know someone who got a staph infection from the gym!  It is such a breeding place for germs.  People either don't do a good job of wiping down the equipment after they are done (they do the little halk-hearted swipe) or there is nothing in the spray that is strong enough to kill the germs (like bleach).  Definitely more colds going around at the gym. 
Posted 12/20/2007 3:54 AM (GMT 0)
I truly believe its the gym.  I have a phobia about gyms now.  about 3 yrs ago, I started working out with a trainer, felt great, actually the best I ever felt in my life to this day.  Anyway, 8 months later ended up with malnutrition, decreased weight by 15 pounds, sinus infections, pneumonia & kidney stones.  Once I had sinsus surgery & surgery for the kidney stones, I started to go back to the gym.  Ended up sick again & had to have a leave of absense from work for 8 months.  Tried one more time after getting better to go back to the gym & yes, got sick again.  The last time I tried going, it had already occurred to me that maybe the gym was getting me sick.  Now I'm just freaked to go to the gym, I'm just going to work out at home for awhile.  My husband goes & never gets sick, but, he doesn't have an auto immune disease either (thank GOD). 
Posted 12/20/2007 4:17 AM (GMT 0)
I am so glad I have a gym at home!!!! We purchased a used Weider weight machine, new dumbells, rope, punching bag ect so it was fairly cheap compared to buying a membership...comes in handy if you have an extra room or large area to put all that stuff and be able to use it.

:)
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply