Deciding when to exercise after you’ve had the stomach flu depends on a few factors, including how severe the illness was and how long it lasted. What’s important is that you allow yourself time to rest and keep physical activity to a minimum.
Stomach Flu Symptoms
Norovirus, an infection that causes gastroenteritis, is often referred to as the stomach flu. But other viruses can cause similar symptoms, such as diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Other stomach flu symptoms include:
Headache
Body aches
Fever
Nausea
Chills
When you have the stomach flu, it’s important to drink plenty of liquids to prevent the loss of fluids from vomiting and diarrhea. There is no specific drug that will treat the illness. People generally recover without medical treatment within one to three days.
If you’re vomiting, wait two hours for your stomach to settle before swallowing any liquids. When your stomach settles, sip water or clear liquids every 15 to 20 minutes for a few hours, increasing the amount as you go. It is important to drink liquids with electrolytes.
When you can tolerate clear liquids for several hours without vomiting, try eating small amounts of bland foods. Try foods like bananas, rice, applesauce, and dry toast. When you can tolerate bland food, you can resume your normal diet.
Put Exercise on Pause
When you’re getting over an illness, whether it’s a cold, the flu, or a stomach bug, one of the most important things you can do for your body is rest. According to Susan A. Werner, MD, a primary care physician at Geisinger Nanticoke in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, “When you rest, you let your immune system work at maximum capacity. It’s important to take it easy both physically and mentally to keep stress levels down.”
Dr. Werner says it’s best to give your workout regimen a rest while recovering from an illness. Generally, experts disagree on the effects of exercise when sick, though it has been found that the energy used during exercise can weaken your immune system and cause an illness to continue for a longer period of time.
Exercise as Prevention
While exercise can exacerbate stomach flu symptoms when done during the illness or recovery, it can also help prevent the stomach flu and other illnesses when done regularly. You can take care of your immune system by eating well, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and exercising.
Other Stomach Conditions
There are several other stomach ailments and conditions that may require you to put exercise on hold. Speak with your doctor if you have chronic abdominal symptoms to see if you require further testing.
The Takeaway
The “stomach flu” is the term used for a gastrointestinal illness caused by the norovirus, but other viruses can cause similar symptoms.
Common symptoms of the stomach flu include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain.
It’s best to avoid exercising when you are just getting over stomach flu because exercising while sick may delay your recovery. In general, however, having a regular exercise routine can boost the immune system and may improve your immunity to minor illnesses.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.
Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.
She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.
Caroline is a freelance writer based in New York City. She has written health, nutrition and wellness content for Boots Pharmacy, Meredith Corporation (in collaboration with Pfizer) and everydayhealth.com. Her writing — on topics such as fitness and women's empowerment — has also appeared in Grok Nation, L.A. Weekly, Elle.com and New York Magazine. You can find more on her and her work at www.carolinebodian.com.
