General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Recovery from illness vs training stress - Any correlation Rss Feed  
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2012-04-10 4:42 PM

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Subject: Recovery from illness vs training stress - Any correlation

As I sit here recovering from a nasty sinus infection, I was curious if there was any correlation between how long it takes someone to recover from illness vs. training stress.  Once I get a cold/flu, it seems to hit me harder than other people and I seem to take longer to recover.  But I always thought I recovered well from training stresses, but perhaps I dont recover as well as I thought I do and should take more notice of this. 

If someone usually takes longer to recover from illness, does that mean that likely need more time for recovery from training stresses (or at least pay more attention to when you get closer to the edge of what your body can handle)?



2012-04-10 7:01 PM
in reply to: #4141848

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Subject: RE: Recovery from illness vs training stress - Any correlation
I have seen little correlation. I'm very good at recovering from training stress. I can do absolutely ridiculous things in training, have little or no soreness and be good to go the next day, esp. if it was  endurance-focused and at moderate intensity rather than a speed workout. But it can take me a long time to get over colds, sinus infections, etc., even if I'm not training at all. In my case I'm pretty sure it's due to allergies and asthma, which just up the level of irritation and keep me feeling lousy for several days (or, when I lived in China, weeks) even after the germs have cleared my system. I think it's just individual and varies with the body system and person. However, if you consistently see slow recovery from both illness and training, it's possible that overtraining (or an underlying issue like anemia or poor diet or sleep) could be suppressing your immune system as well as your performance.
2012-04-10 10:34 PM
in reply to: #4142045

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Subject: RE: Recovery from illness vs training stress - Any correlation
There are a ton of variables common and unique to both processes.  I suspect there's little correlation but I'm totally basing that on an educated guess with no evidence whatsoever.  However now that I think about it, relative to a baseline average fitness and diet, if you improved your fitness and diet significantly, over time I'd bet you'd see improvements in both 'sickness' and exercise recovery times, depending on the illness and existing medical conditions of course.  That's really just a reflection of being healthier.
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