I can suppress my immune response with exercise with most illnesses. If I get full blown sick the inflammation is beyond words level of pain. My chronic spinal injuries are already near my max pain thresholds 24/7 and well beyond a fractured scapula or broken ribs which I have had since my broken neck and back. I never feel like I can or should be riding a bike, especially when I’m feeling sick.

My old boss and kinda coach when I worked for the a chain of bike shops used to say that the only time to stop riding (training) is from stomach issues that get worse on the bike. I still go quite easy and listen to my body.

My folks got the flu bad about a month ago. I came down with it. I could feel that I wasn’t at my full strength and ached a lot. I felt awful when I woke up and sickest around when I went to bed, but by riding my PT routine I never hit the worst lows where I can’t get out of bed or walk at all.

Coming down with something is no time to start a routine, but if one is established it can really help a lot around half of the time. The last time I got full blown sick was 2019.