As mentioned, I have a mild cold. I’m supposed to go to my swim lesson tonight, and I really don’t want to skip it because I already missed last week. Seeking answers, I typed my query on the Goog. Here’s what exercise physiologist Elizabeth Quinn reckons:
The average adult has two to three upper respiratory infections each year. Many athletes wonder if they should continue their training routine when sick. While research is limited, most experts recommend that if your symptoms are above the neck and you have no fever, exercise is probably safe. Intensive exercise should be postponed until a few days after the symptoms have gone away. However, if there are symptoms or signs of the flu, such as fever, extreme tiredness, muscle aches, swollen lymph glands, then at least two weeks should probably be allowed before you resume intensive training.
A small study conducted by Thomas G. Weidner at Ball State University backs up her claim. Researchers infected a group of volunteers with a rhinovirus and divided them into two groups: exercising and non-exercising. The exercising group trained at 70% of their measured heart rate for 40 minutes a day.
At the conclusion of the study, analysis of exercise training data, physical activity profiles, symptom severity scores and actual mucous weight measurement showed no statistically significant difference between the exercising and non-exercising groups.
The authors reiterated a useful model for exercising during a cold. If symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing or a scratchy throat exist (so-called “above-the-neck” symptoms), it is probably safe for an individual to exercise at a lower intensity. If these symptoms recede in the first few minutes of exercise, intensity may be increased accordingly. Exercise is not, however, recommended for individuals experiencing “below-the-neck” symptoms of a cold, such as fever, sore muscles or joints, vomiting or diarrhea, or a productive cough.
I’ll see if I can back up Thomas and Elizabeth’s claims after my swim tonight. I’ve exercised on a cold in the past but this always seemed to make it worse, but it’s quite likely I pushed myself too hard. In fact, I took two very leisurely turns around Clissold Park this morning and it felt terrific; it cleared up my nose and, well, I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.
My swim is from 7:30-8:15. I am going to have a light meal at 5ish, and then something small after my swim, following which I am going to crawl into bed and try to sleep for a very long time.
Link to Should I exercise with a cold? at About.com
Link to Can you still exercise even with a runny nose? at BlueSuitMom.com
Medicine balls are those big heavy black balls that are a little scary except to those few masochistic folks who like to toss them back and forth to one another. It may harken bad memories of gym class. I remember when my 3rd-grade gym teacher tossed one of these cannon balls at me and I dropped it on my toe, not prepared to catch something that weighed 8 pounds (my gym teacher was a competitive body builder who could lift a car like it was a feather, but he wore those rediculous 80s Zubaz pants so we couldn’t really take him seriously). 
