Questions about the safety of working out when sick with an upper respiratory infection are a common concern, according to doctors. Many folks pressure themselves to exercise even when they arent feeling 100% well or hope a good workout will help sweat out their illness. (Spoiler alert: It wont.)

It is frustrating when a cold or seasonal virus disrupts your weekly workout plan, especially if youre training for a competition or race. So what can you do if you have the sniffles? Heres what to know:

If your symptoms are mild and above the neck, youre likely OK to work out.

Generally speaking, its probably safe to exercise if you only have symptoms above the neck ... like nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, said Eliza Gollub , a nurse practitioner at the health care service One Medical .

There is evidence suggesting that moderate exercise doesnt cause a mild cold to last longer or cause cold symptoms to be more severe, which is reassuring in those cases, Gollub added.

When exercising with the sniffles, its important to stick to low or moderate-intensity exercises for a maximum of 30 to 45 minutes, said Dr. Calvin Hwang , a sports medicine doctor at Stanford Health Care in California. This could mean a walk, an easy weight workout or some yoga.

Further, these kinds of workouts can even be beneficial, Hwang noted. Studies that look at various markers of immunity and inflammatory markers found that low to moderate-intensity exercise activates some of your immune system cells. And you amount the more vigorous immune response to the infection when you do a low to moderate exercise, he added.

If you do choose to exercise while youre sick, its important to think about the setting, too, Gollub said. You wouldnt want to be at the gym next to someone whos constantly sneezing, right?

These are contagious viruses, and so to avoid spreading the misery around its helpful to avoid going to the gym or going to group fitness classes when feeling sick, Gollub stressed. Use this time to do an online yoga class in your living room or to go on a quiet walk through nature.