You’ve heard phrases like: “No pain no gain,” or “Go to the sauna and the gym and sweat it out;” you’ll get better when you’re sick. But, home remedies and advice are often not fact checked so it’s tough to say whether they’re effective.

“This is a tough one because there just isn’t a lot of data out there,” said Dr. Beth Ann Sastre, assistant professor at Vanderbilt Internal Medicine. The answer depends on what ails you, according to Exercising When Sick: A Good Move, by WebMD’s Denise Mann. Exercising with a cold may be OK, but if you’ve got a fever, hitting the gym is a definite no-no.

Every sickness is not the same and it’s important to identify the ailment first. “If you have a fever, rest and fluids and seeing your doctor is what I would prescribe,” said Tiffiny Butler, Doctoral candidate in the integrative exercise physiology at Temple University.

Dr. Amanda Kelly at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA agreed. “It is ok to exercise with a common cold, which can be defined as nasal congestion, cough, runny nose,” said Kelly. Understanding what the body is trying to do is important, said Dr. Robert Kleinwaks, a holistic and sports medicine doctor in Long Island, NY.

“Think of your body as a big battery,” said Kleinwaks “If you’ve worn your battery down, your body will usually tell you.”