Back to swimming after a cold?

[Bunbun]

Just wondering how the swimmers here judge when to go back to swimming after they've had a cold. I'm really frustrated because I haven't swam since Thanksgiving--either the pool was closed for the holidays, or I had bronchitis for 2-3 weeks, or a stomach virus. I was finally! going to get back to it this weekend, and yesterday I woke up with some sort of sinus/cold thing again. So how long do you wait to swim, once you're over the initial horrible part of a cold? Thanks!

 

[Aquajock]

Bunbun, I wait approximately 2 seconds before hitting the pool again after a cold. I think the thing to keep in mind is to make sure you do a vigorous workout to stay heated up (this is especially true if the pool water is seriously cold), AND to get right out of the pool, hit the whirlpool / hot tub or hot shower immediately after the workout so that you don't chill too much. Make sure to towel off your hair quickly too, because the water caught in the hair can make you lose a lot of heat through your head. If you're doing a swimming workout shortly after a cold, I double my standard recommendation to intersperse your traditional swimming laps (front crawl, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke) with kickboard flutter kick drills, because those drills recruit the leg muscles more meaningfully which translates into a higher core temperature. All of this to avoid chilling.

HTH -

A-Jock

 

[Bunbun]

Thanks, Aquajock. I actually always start out with the kickboard because I'm a huge wimp about getting into cold water, and that warms me up the fastest. What do you do about the snot factor? (I was going to try to phrase that more politely, but honestly, it's the clearest way to put the problem!) I have no qualms about doing my usual powerwalking when I have a cold--as long as I'm not horribly sick and feel that I'm not pushing my body when I should be resting, I will workout even if I'm congested and blowing my nose constantly. With swimming, though, I worry that my nose would suddenly start running in the pool or something gross like that. Or that the chlorine would aggravate my sinuses.

 

[Aquajock]

The Snot Factor is an entirely different kettle of fish. (Can we mix our metaphors any more?) One of the problems with aquatic training coming off of a cold is that, because of the humid environment of the pool deck (especially of the pool deck is well-heated), AND because traditional swimming makes you put your face in the water for front crawl, breast stroke and butterfly, your snot canals are constantly humidified or water-fied. That keeps the snot running, and that seriously interferes with your workout.

I probably should've addressed that earlier; because I don't do traditional swimming as a rule I don't dunk my head / face very much, so I didn't think of it.

My suggestion would be to wait just a day (at most two) until the snot canals have dried up a tich, and for your first pool workout back keep a towel AND a box of Kleenex handy at the side of the pool in your lane; then if you need to you can always stop, dry off your hands, grab a quick blow into the Kleenex, and go again.

BTW, that reminds me of a thing that happened in my first year of aqua instruction: I was teaching a late afternoon class with about 14,000 participants, and we were all splashing to beat the band. I'd forgotten to blow my nose before getting into the pool. Well, during one particularly enthusiastic drill, some water got up my nose; I exhaled sharply and this nice, wet booger flew out and landed on the water right in front of a newbie. Never saw her again.

A-Jock

 

[lala1]

I would add to keep a bottle of water handy to continue to hydrate not only yourself,but your throat, too, as I find with a cold, my throat is really dry.

 

[Bunbun]

ROFL, A-Jock!! Gross, but really funny! Thanks for the tips, too. A towel and tissues could do it; I think I'm going to give this particular cold a few days at least, though. I always keep a bottle of water going by the side of the pool, too. Now if I could only improve my swimming enough so that I didn't have to stop every other lap and catch my breath. I keep promising myself that I will get lessons at some point. Took a class years and years ago, but they mainly dealt with getting people over their fear of water, not improving your stroke.

 

[Dorothy]

Oh YuCK A-jock!

I am a swimmer and the water environment does loosen everything up so you are not totally stuffed. You can do more kick sets if you are so clogged that you feel it is getting in the water too much. Having something to wipe your nose at the end is good also.

I have not had a cold for about 2 years(knock on wood), but I know I swam through it. As long as I was not coughing a lot, which interferes a lot, then I did not worry about the stuffiness.

I have a friend who was fighting a sinus infection last week. She joked it made her butterfly better as her tendency is to slam her head too much when entering the water, which is bad form. With the sinus infection, the impact would cause great pain, so it reminded her that her form was wrong!

For me, I usually go by the rule, above the neck, OK to exercise, below, not OK, and I also check my fatigue level. If feeling very fatigued, and you try to push to hard, you may set yourself up for complications such as sinus infections, bronchitis, and more colds. So listen to your body, and get back in gradually.

 

[Bunbun]

No colds in 2 years--I'm jealous. My office is a mini germ factory, especially this year it seems.

I can't imagine doing the butterfly with a sinus infection--too painful.

 

[Dorothy]

I did have a wicked 24 hour stomach flu virus in November, so not completely germ free ! my immune system seems to be pretty good, hope it stays that way!