Training After Getting Sick

"Hey James,

"Love your blog! Quick question:

"I am currently doing a 5x5, 4 times a week routine per your site, and recently got sick and have been backtracked this week. Normally train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and this week I got a slight cold on Sunday, and haven't been able to go to the gym.

"Thankfully today Wednesday I am feeling a lot better, but I am already behind for my routine for the week. My question is, what is a good quick training routine you would recommend to someone in my situation? Say once or twice this week, in order to basically maintain strength, or not lose their progress in the gym?

"I'll probably adjust weights for next week depending on how I feel, but it would be great to stay at the level I was, or not lose much progress from this backtrack. Thanks for addressing my question, and thanks for the great information!"

Regards,
Jenaro L. Jimenez


My Answer: It's a tricky thing when you get sick, but when you've recovered, just resume your program from where you left off. Since you coming off a mini-layoff, however, I suggest you cut the volume down to half and not train to failure. Jumping right back into the program full force would be too much of a shock for your system.

In other words, if you're doing 5x5, then you should bring it down to 3 sets of 5 reps with a weight you can do 6-8 reps with. Next week when you feel better, resume the 5x5 program.