Sick

So......I'm sick as a dog. Sicker, actually, cuz my dog is just fine. I caught the flu a few days ago, and it's not fun. I'm a student of a local university, and school just got back in session, so getting the flu now is BAD TIMING! But I know you're not interested in my academic life, so here's why I'm writing to you...cough, cough!!
In my experience, when I get sick, workouts go down the drain...FAST! So, what to do when you're sick?
I don't suggest cardio. BAD IDEA! You want to get better, not worse. For those of you that get sick and think "I'll just flush everything out of my system by working out really hard." No, just no. I tried that once, and I ended up in bed for two weeks because of the pain of straining my already weak muscles. Be smart with your body.
ANYWAY...!!
I don't know about you, but I still want to stay active even when I'm sick, so here's what I do.
Body weight exercises and stretching, that's it. Think of your sickness - Whether it's a cold, flu, or whatever - As an opportunity to work on the things that you ignore when you're too busy being "hard-style." *Guilty as charged*
And by "body weight" I don't mean do a thousand push-ups and even more crunches.
If you do any push-ups, crunches, squats, or anything that you would normally do with a weight in your hand, do them slowly. Be patient when you're sick.
Why do I say slow? Because if you want to maintain muscle density, slow, tight movements are the only way to do so without a weight. WOW!

Here's a quick workout for you sickly folks out there...
Push ups: 2-3 sets of 5 reps, full body tension. 3sec down, 1 sec pause, 3 sec up. Get rid of the part of your ego that thinks that more reps equal "bad-ass!"
Crunches: Untraditional; when performing the crunch, press your lower back into the ground. This will promote more muscle work for less reps. 3-5 sets of 5 reps, same timing as push-ups.
Squats: Hands straight out, full body tension, down 3sec pause 2sec up 3sec.
Tactical lunges: start feet together, then lunge backward. No solid timing, just slower than usual and be careful. Full body tension!

There's just a few exercises for ya! Add or remove any to your own taste, but keep the timing theories and full body tension technique.

Over and out,
Coach C