I could do that when I was 19 (and often did), but lately I have found that it usually makes things worse. But on the last day of a cold when I'm already feeling better a moderate cardio workout seems to help clear out all the bad stuff.

Dr. Zorba Paster on NPR had a show on this and he said there was a study where one group was given a flu bug and told to take it easy while a second group was given the bug and told to work out daily. It showed there was no difference in recovery rates between the two.

Of course working out is not what most people feel like doing when they are sick. It also doesn't make sense that if you divert energy to muscles it doesn't take that energy away from the fight against the virus but the study says it makes no difference.

Get a Neti Pot. That is the way to put the salt water through your sinuses. It looks like a mini tea pot. Just follow the directions. I know it sounds gross, but you don't feel a thing if you do it right. It does not feel like getting water up your nose. It will pull all the snot out of your nose....

I have been using one of these for 6 years and have not got sick since! Even helps with allergies. Just use it once a day and blow all the crap out of your sinuses, works like a charm. Sometimes I will get a little more than usual but I never have gotten a cold or flu just more snot!

Here`s an idea that you might try.....go to a doctor and let him fix you up.

I've found the same thing. As I get older, it seems to just get worse if I workout when sick.

Lots of good suggestions here... several of which have worked well for me as well:

I definitely concur with the Zicam. If you catch it right when you first start feeling the cold symptoms, it seems to really knock it out.

I have also found that drinking lots of water seems to help. I try to keep a glass or bottle of water in my hand almost continuously. It's amazing how much water you will drink if you have it right in front of you all the time!

The other thing I do is take high quality nutritional supplements (whether sick or not). I found that the number of times I get sick each year has gone down dramatically since starting to take these... and, when I do get sick, I generally get over it faster.