THERESA: Ellen has recently hurt her knee and doesn't know whether she could call a doctor or continue with her workouts. Jill is about to have surgery on her hand and is concerned about whether this will derail her upper-body weight workouts. Many of us are battling colds and flu this time of year, and wonder whether to keep working out through a period of illness. So we asked trainer Diane Catrambone of Chester Springs if she had any advice to offer about working out through this kind of adversity:

Diane: According to Andrew Weil, M.D. (and me too)! if your symptoms are located above the neck -- a stuffy or runny nose, sneezing -- then exercise is probably safe. Start slowly, and if you feel better after 10 minutes, continue, if you feel worse, stop. If you have below-the-neck symptoms, for example, muscle aches, cough, fever of 100 degrees or higher, chills, diarrhea, or vomiting, you should avoid exercise. Exercising when you have these symptoms may raise your temperature, dehydrate you, and weaken you further. A sore throat could go either way, and you need to see how your energy and strength level is. Whatever your symptoms are, if you're feeling really weak, it's better not to exercise because when your body is fighting an infection, you could suffer a setback, plus your performance would be greatly diminished and you probably wouldn't be getting very much out of the workout.

As far as injuries go, a diagnosis of the injury is the best bet. Then conditioning exercises can be prescribed that will enable the healing process to accelerate. A sports physician would be my recommendation for the diagnosis. Someone who understands the importance the injured party puts on her physical activities and won't discourage her from continuing her program with modifications as necessary.

If someone is having surgery, my recommendation is to get to physical therapy as soon as possible and continue with the entire prescribed program before entering back into her normal physical routine. Sometimes physical therapy may seem a bit slow moving for someone who is very active, but it is important to finish the therapy. Failure to do so may result in chronic weakness or excessive scar tissue buildup.

Good Luck!

Any other thoughts (or maladies to report), Girlfriends?

LAURIE: I am getting physical therapy for two problems right now, and it's fabulous. The exercises seem so minimal , yet they are very effective because they're so concentrated. I have cut back on other activities, but not totally.

APRIL: My experience with exercising when I have a head cold/minor ailment is that I feel significantly better while running or working out, while pumped with adrenaline, then significantly worse - sometimes a lot worse like a pushed myself too much - later on in the day. I have learned to just eat more and rest more when I'm sick, then resume workouts in a few days or a week.

THERESA: I pulled a muscle in my back lifting something a few years ago, after several weeks of being very lazy about exercise. The chiropractor told me that not exercising may have contributed to my stress level, thus making me more prone to injury. And in that case, he said running was not going to aggravate my back, so I was able to keep running. I think about that as a motivator now-- if I quit running, I'm afraid my muscles would seize up from all the stress I'd be bottling up!

I have gotten a lot more disciplined about stretching before and after running, after talking to so many runners who screwed up their knees because they didn't stretch enough. Stretching the back of my legs-- doing toe touches, for example, seems to really reduce potential knee strain.

HEATHER: I believe that if you have injured your body to the extent where pain, joint instability and / or swelling are present for more than a week you should contact a doctor. Of course if you have a major injury you should go right away. If you truly feel that something is just "not right" it is better to be safe than sorry and head to the doctor's office for a professional opinion.

Remember you always want to actively pursue health. In this case it means such things as : properly warming up and cooling down, using correct form and tempo for strength training, listening to your body when you need a day off, and icing a sore area after a workout.

"No pain, no gain" does not always hold true especially as we are bodies age and we become less resiliant. As a friend of mine says, "You only have one body. Take care of it"