Episode #17: Can Exercise Make You Sick?

Exercise is good for us. It helps us sleep better, maintain our weight, and lowers the risk of many physical and mental conditions. So, after playing sports in high school and college, I stayed active. I did triathlons and marathons, attended spin classes and yoga classes, and for the last two years, I’ve been working out at Orange Theory, an exercise studio that involves high-intensity work on treadmills, rowing devices and weights.

But in my 30s, I started to notice that exercise, despite all its benefits, seemed to come at a cost. Whenever I exercised too hard, I paid for it the next day. It didn’t matter if I worked out in the morning or night, whether it was a spin class or yoga—after exercising, I’d go to bed wired, sleep badly and often wake up bone-crushingly tired, almost as I was hangover. I’d ask doctors about this phenomenon and they’d brush it off, or suggest working out in the morning, or drinking more water. But I knew something was going on with my body, and I decided to try and figure it out.

In this episode, I talk with three exercise and fitness experts—Brad A. Roy, Ph.D., FACSM, FACHE, FMFA, Kelly Malmin, PT, DPT, Cert DN, Cert SMT, FMS, SFMA, FCS, and April Terry, MS, LAT, ATC—who help me figure out what might be causing my post-exercise fatigue, a quest that could help us all exercise and recover better.