Apparently Swampy abandons his workouts if he gets the sniffles, You can still can get moderate work done with a cold despite not being quite 100%. Furthermore there is plenty of research regarding aerobic exercise with a URI (see below). Yes perhaps I should have stated that the intervals I was doing were throttled back. I prefer to be 100% when I do a LT test for best results, doesn't everyone?. That was the point I was trying to make that got lumped into the "Dunce" category.
Although new to cycling I have completed more than a few sub 3 hour marathons and there were plenty of colds in there. After a while one gets pretty skilled at determining whether or not a workout should be abandoned.
Since this thread has taken on a new direction here is a good study on the exercising with a cold so I am not going to grab that dunce cap just yet.
The effect of exercise training on the severity and duration of a viral upper respiratory illness.
Clinical Sciences
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 30(11):1578-1583, November 1998.
WEIDNER, THOMAS G.; CRANSTON, TRACY; SCHURR, TERRY; KAMINSKY, LEONARD A.
Abstract:
The effect of exercise training on the severity and duration of a viral upper respiratory illness. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 30, No. 11, pp. 1578-1583, 1998.
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether exercise training affects the severity and duration of a rhinovirus-caused upper respiratory illness (URI).
Methods: Subjects who were rhinovirus 16 (RV 16) antibody-free completed a graded exercise test. Thirty-four individuals (ages 18-29 yr) of moderate fitness (32 mL[middle dot]kg-1[middle dot]min-1 to 60 mL[middle dot]kg-1[middle dot]min-1) were randomly assigned to the exercise group (EX) while 16 additional individuals of similar age and fitness served as a nonexercise (NEX) control group. All EX and NEX subjects were inoculated with RV 16 on 2 consecutive days. EX subjects completed 40 min of supervised exercise every other day at 70% of heart rate (HR) reserve for a 10-d period. Every 12 h, all subjects completed a 13-item symptom severity checklist and a physical activity log. Used facial tissues were collected and weighed (symptom severity measure) during these same reporting periods.
Results: A two group by nine measure (2 x 9) repeated measures ANOVA procedure showed no difference in symptom questionnaire mean scores and the mucous weights of the EX and NEX groups for days 2-10 of the experiment. A two measure by five measure (2 x 5) repeated measures ANOVA procedure indicated no differences between the pre- and post-exercise questionnaire means for the five sessions that EX subjects exercised. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
Conclusion: These results suggest that moderate exercise training during a rhinovirus-caused URI under the conditions of this study design do not alter the severity and duration of the illness.
