Hey guys, 

No injury here but the past few days i've been pretty sick and havnt been able to go to the gym. I'm on the body building 5 day split and thankfully it hit me after saturdays workout. I had to miss yesterdays (monday) workout though. Today i am finally able to put down some food (though not much, half a protein bar and some chicken noodle soup).  I really don't want my progress to go down the drain and want to get into the gym. I feel comfortable with working out today but I'm sure I'm going to be really weak for the next few days cuz of being sick. I just finished month one of the 5 day bodybuilding split program. You think it would be okay if i just took this week and made it a deload week? I know you are supposed to wait till the program is done and then do it every 6 weeks after that but I just feel that I might not be able to do much good in the gym (espcailly today lol).

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

When your body is fighting an infection, it needs to use all energy resources to rally the immune system to help clear it. The best rule of thumb when sick is listen to your body. There is a reason you lose your appetite when really sick - your body does not want to have to burn calories to process food but rather use them for the immune system.

This is why I use my hunger as a gauge. If I still had my appetite when I was sick, I then do a de-load week when I feel up to getting back to the gym. If I didn't eat much when I was sick, then I take an extra week off to "refuel" before I head back to the gym. You will look and feel depleted because your glycogen stores will be low and your body was fighting an infection. Trying to go back to the gym too early - even doing a de-load week if not fully ready - is not adviseable. It won't hurt you but it will impact how quickly you bounce back from being sick.

John

I agree with John, you're better to take some time to make sure you're right.. if you literally can't even get down 500 calories, then there's probably no point tryin to burn any extra calories trying to shift some weight around.

Wait until you can actually get a decent day of eating under your belt. When you can do that, then I'd say it would be a good time to start easing your way back into it. If you go back too soon, you also might 'rebound' with your sickness.

But it's been a few days since you posted this now, so hope you are feeling better!!