Many health experts feel that the answer to this question is a big NO. However, sports enthusiast experts claim otherwise. When facing this exercising dilemma you need to establish just how ill you are and what areas of the body are affected.
If you are afflicted with your basic, run of the mill type cold, you can and should do some light to moderate exercising to help prevent the loss of muscle. It will not hurt you to do this, but do so with caution and with a less than normal routine. If you find that you cannot handle it after approximately 15 minutes then by all means, stop. At home exercising is preferable to try this, but if you are planning to go to the local gym, please do not. Spreading your bacteria around to others is not a nice thing to do.
If it is the flu or anything more serious than that you should definitely not attempt to exercise. Symptoms of the flu would possibly include diarrhea, chills, coughing, fever, and a sore, aching body. You would only be hurting yourself. Healing time would be prolonged and your condition may indeed worsen. If the above is not agreeable to you then at least wait until you are feeling a bit better and participate at home in a modified version of light exercise only.
Sports enthusiast are highly committed, however, and disagree for the most part stating that too much muscle mass will be lost in taking time out.
To help to avoid contracting a cold, flu, or something of even greater proportion, when you go to the gym to do your workout, clean the equipment that you will be using. Do this right before you use it and keep your hands away from your face. Cleaning the equipment right after you use it is the right thing to do as well. In addition, remember handwashing. Good handwashing helps to destroy many germs that can otherwise lead you to illness.
Angel Lynn writes in weight loss, single parenting, and health