How useful is it to go for an easy spin when having a cold to maintain fitness

Training
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Hello together. as you can already see by the title of this topic, i wanted to get your opinion and facts on how useful it is to go for an easy spin of about 30min and heart rate bellow 120bpm, when having a cold to maintain fitness…
of course i do know that the severity of a cold can be quite different. but i just wanted to ask in general, if there is a clear answer for what one can do to not loose too much fitness with having a cold.

thank you a lot
Simon

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Won’t tell you not to go and spin, I’ve done plenty riding while sick, just keep it easy. However, a 30min easy spin will not do much difference towards “maintaining fitness” in grand scheme of things. On the other hand, skipping a couple rides to get better will also not make a major dent in your fitness.

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thank you for your answer. and even though it is not what i like to hear, it makes sense haha.
it is just that i have a MTB Marathon race on the 28th of july, for which i want to be in good shape. so far training has been quite well (at least from how i feel on the bike haha). so i am pretty scared to loose all of that and really would do everything to maintain this form as much as possible

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You’ll likely lose a little bit from being sick and taking a little time off, but I’m not sure it’ll be noticeable. Depending on how you felt going in and how fatigued you were, it may actually work out good to get the rest.

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Unfortunately, I agree with this :cry:.

This is hitting home for me right now :sob:.

The obvious answer is to listen to your body. But, at least for me, this is so much easier said than done, especially when you have a race on the horizon!

I have found that I am best completely taking time off when I am sick. This is because I always inevitably end up prolonging the sickness because I’m unable to determine how much I can handle and what will “maintain my fitness”… and so overdo it. Rather than risking this delay, you might want to consider taking complete rest, recover quicker and get back to training sooner.

I suggest you focus on getting as much sleep as possible. This will go a loooooong way in getting you back to health and back on the bike! Rest up and get well soon :heart: .

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If for no other purpose, I like to ride easy when sick to spin the legs and get a good dose of fresh air and sunshine.

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