Can Exercising Help You Get Over a Cold Faster?

Exercise clearly has long-term benefits—from strengthening your bones and muscles to helping manage chronic conditions. Research even suggests that staying active may lower your chances of getting sick. But what about when you’re already feeling that telltale throat tickle?

Most adults have two to three colds per year in the United States. Some people believe that exercising or “sweating it out” when you’re sick actually speeds up recovery time.

Here’s what experts have to say about working out while you’re under the weather and if it really cuts down on how long your cold lasts.

Can Exercise Ease Cold Symptoms or Speed Up Recovery? 

There is no evidence to suggest that exercising while sick will help speed up recovery or improve symptoms, Elena Zamora, MD, a family medicine physician at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, told Verywell in an email. 

Depending on the severity of your symptoms, exercising with a cold can put more stress on your immune system and make it harder to breathe, especially if you have asthma or other underlying health conditions.

“If you have asthma, certain viruses and colds can trigger an asthma exacerbation, and exercising will not help make the wheezing better,” Zamora said. 

Exercise can, however, reduce the likelihood of getting sick in the future. Regular exercise strengthens and improves immunity, helping to lower the risk of infections, according to Inderpal Randhawa, MD, a board-certified internist, pediatrician, pediatric pulmonologist, and medical director of the Children’s Pulmonary Institute at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach.

Exercise is a form of stress on the body. When you exercise regularly, it makes that stress more manageable, Randhawa said. Over time, this helps your “immune system become stronger and more stable,” he added.

However, pushing yourself too hard with intense exercise—called overtraining—is not great. This can overwhelm the body and weaken the immune system, said Randhawa.

When Is It Best to Do Less Intense Exercise or Skip Altogether?

Exercising with a cold likely won’t help you get over it faster, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work out, Randhawa said, just use your best judgment.

If you’re fit and exercise regularly, it’s generally fine to continue working out at a lower intensity, said Randhawa. But if you’re not very active or have overweight or obesity, it’s probably better to rest. When you’re actively sick, your body is under stress, and pushing yourself to exercise can make things worse, he added.

Why? It comes down to the immune system. When you’re sick, your immune cells need to get to the infection site, like your sinuses or lungs. If you’re fit, your blood tends to flow more efficiently, which helps immune cells reach the infection site faster, Randhawa said. If you’re not as fit and your blood flow isn’t as efficient, immune cells may take longer to reach the infection, “and exercising could make things worse by increasing stress on your body,” he added.

Your symptoms matter, too. If you have mild symptoms like a runny nose or nasal congestion, walking or yoga might be fine, Zamora said. If your symptoms are below the neck, like fever, fatigue, body aches, and coughing, Zamora recommends skipping exercise altogether. (This is often referred to as the “neck test.”)

“We want to avoid exercise in lower respiratory infections,” like pneumonia, Zamora said. Plus, fever and exercise both increase your heart rate, so it’s better to rest.

When Is It Safe To Work Out Again? 

It is generally safe to exercise once your symptoms are above the neck. Just do so gradually, Zamora added.

If you’re still experiencing cough or fever, it’s best to skip your workout, and definitely do not exercise if you’re feeling winded during normal daily activities, Randhawa said. “If you’re still unable to exercise weeks after recovering from a cold, you should seek medical advice as it could indicate a more serious issue.”