It seems that the Covid season is back upon us again so I thought it was worth posting my latest advice for what to do if you get Covid and to answer some of the most common questions I get from clients (last updated summer 2024)
Don’t train if you have Covid
If you have Covid (or any illness) then my advice is always to rest and wait until you are better before resuming training. Training risks delaying your recovery by diverting your energy into recovery from training rather than helping you get better.
Plus when you are ill, everything feels much harder and you go much slower which means you rarely do a good training session and it stresses you out that you’ve lost so much fitness - you haven’t, it’s just that you’re still ill! So instead rest until:
a) you feel completely well again, and ideally another day after that before restarting training
b) your resting heart rate (RHR) / or Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is back to normal (see later).
Monitoring your first session back
When you restart training kick off with a short, easy pace session. Keep an eye on your heart rate – if it’s a little higher or lower than normal for easy pace then adjust your pace accordingly i.e. go at your normal heart rate (HR), not normal pace/ power. And then rebuild slowly from there, don't just jump straight back into a hard session.
If heart rate is a lot higher or lower, or fluctuating up and down far more than usual, then abandon the session and rest a few more days before trying another easy session.
FAQ: But I’m worried I’m losing fitness
Firstly, I always recommend building base fitness (relatively long, easy sessions rather than high intensity) first. Base fitness takes time to build up, but also a long time to lose. So if you’ve done this sort of training, you won't lose anything but top end fitness if you take a few weeks off. To repeat - if it’s feeling harder than usual, in almost all cases, that’s because you’re still ill. (And the top end, fitness can be topped back up quickly, and in my opinion, certainly shouldn’t be attempted until you’re definitely well again.)
Secondly, is training going to help you get fitter? In my experience it risks keeping you ill for longer, which is definitely not going to help. So rest, and if you’ve got some spare energy spend your time on all the things you don’t normally have time for - foam rolling, getting a race plan ready, meal prep etc.
FAQ: But I feel ok, can I do some light training?
This is my opinion, it’s up to you if you follow it. We don’t know the long-term impacts of the current variants of Covid – but we know that previous ones had potentially very serious effects in terms of damage to the heart and long Covid, and until we know that this isn’t a risk, from my point of view, it’s not worth the risk. (Indeed, pushing it with your training when you have any sort of virus, not just Covid, can lead to damage to the heart.)
If you do decide to do anything which increases HR whilst still testing positive, follow the HR rules above (in terms of resting heart rate and when training).
FAQ: How do I know what's normal for me?
In order to know if your heart rate is doing weird things, you need to know what’s normal for you. So my strong advice is 1) to measure your resting heart rate (RHR) / Heart Rate Variability (HRV) each morning so you know when’s something is up. This is great for tracking the impact of your training as well as whether you’re getting ill.
For RHR you need to wear your watch overnight. For HRV I recommend an app like HRV4Training. If your watch gives you HRV then monitor what it says before you get ill to see if it feels true to you (in my experience it's not that reliable).
If none of that means anything to you, book in a free call and I can run you through how I use this sort of data to support your training.
2) Even if you don’t train by Heart Rate (HR), I strongly recommend paying attention to your HR when training so you know what is normal for you at each intensity. (As well as helping you spot if you’re ill or fatigued, it's great to help with pacing.) This should be with a chest based HR monitor, not wrist based, as wrist-based generally aren't that reliable.
I recommend tracking RHR and training HR each day so you know your normal numbers and adapt things accordingly, but if you haven’t done this then you can always look back at your training data to check numbers for both.
FAQ: How can I avoid Covid?
For most of us it's probably not possible to completely avoid getting Covid, but there are some steps we can take to reduce the risk. Hard training decreases your immunity in the short term, as does a calorie deficit, so take more precautions as training ramps up and focus on recovery after training. And if you have a race coming up, or really want to avoid getting ill, think 2020 in terms of risk factors (e.g. travel, lots of people in a small space) and how to avoid them.
FAQ: How should I update my training plan?
Everyone responds differently so it's a case of waiting the right amount of time for you, and then monitoring how your body responds as you return to training. Once you've done a few easy sessions with no issues you can move back to your training plan (but keep monitoring how you feel and how your HR responds). And if your plan has progressive sessions (ones that get harder each time) and you've missed a few don't just jump in at the next session on your plan, ease yourself back in.
If you are ill when you read this, then I hope you’re feeling better and back to full training soon.
Keep getting ill or injured? Have you considered a personalised plan?
I write Personalised Plans tailored to you - your fitness, availability, goals, hormones as well as what you enjoy, and based on quality sessions that make the most of your valuable time. I help you ensure you get enough rest and recovery to try and reduce the chance of you getting ill in the first place.
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