When a bug strikes

If you have been confined to bed recently with a severe infection (glandular fever, severe cold, flu, or bronchitis) your doctor will most probably have given you a course of antibiotics and the immediate symptoms will have disappeared.

Unfortunately, antibiotics can be likened to using a sledge-hammer to kill a fly on the wall. The fly will be killed all right if the blow is well aimed; however, the wall will be damaged. Antibiotics are known to kill off half of the body's reserves of vitamins and minerals. The result is that you will feel "washed out" for a considerable period, and in some cases, the infection returns, albeit on a reduced scale. This can play havoc with your training.

Fitness is gained in 12-week blocks of a minimum of every other day training lasting not less than 35 minutes' duration. An athlete, who constantly has to rest a week or two during a 12-week block, will not make much improvement in fitness. The most important fact in improved condition is not to have interruptions in the rhythmical training cycle. It is better to train three times a week for 24 weeks, than to train five times a week with a week off every month due to illness for the same period. To nip serious breakdowns in health - follow this procedure after a severe infection has been "cured".