Exercise has long been known as a way to help boost immune function. For the general population, it’s an easy way to get healthier during cold and flu season, help prevent infection, and maintain immunity year-round. There is some evidence that over time exercise can help reduce swelling throughout the body, which is an important cause of disease and infection in humans, but if you look at the research, most of it is by losing excess weight, especially visceral Fat mass. While exercise is beneficial, excessive exercise can also damage your immune system, as evidenced in fact by the frequency with which many elite athletes develop upper respiratory tract infections while training.
Exercise not only helps prevent insignificant infections, but also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and more4.The chronic effect of exercise again has a great impact on reducing the inflammation present in the body, as more recent studies have shown that chronic inflammation plays an important role in the spread of metabolic diseases5.
So how do we go about harnessing this wonderful immune booster? Your best bet is to stick to the CDC’s recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week. During those 150 minutes, you should stick to a mix of resistance training and aerobic exercise.
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The Athletico Blog is an educational resource written by Athletico staff. Athletico bloggers are licensed professionals who abide by the codes of ethics established by their respective professional associations. The content published in blog posts represents the opinion of the author alone, based on his expertise and experience. The content presented in this blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice and should not be relied upon in making personal health decisions.
refer to:
1. da Silveira MP, da Silva Fagundes KK, Bizuti MR, Starck É, Rossi RC, de Resende E Silva DT. Physical activity as a tool to help the immune system fight COVID-19: a comprehensive review of the current literature. Clinical Experimental Medicine. 2021;21(1):15-28. doi:10.1007/s10238-020-00650-3
2. Gleeson M, Bishop NC, Stensel DJ, Lindley MR, Mastana SS, Nimmo MA. Anti-inflammatory effects of exercise: Mechanisms and implications for disease prevention and treatment. Nat Rev Immunol. 2011;11(9):607-615. Published August 5, 2011. doi:10.1038/nri3041
3. Nieman DC, Watts LM. The strong link between physical activity and the body’s defense system. J Exercise Health Sci. 2019;8(3):201-217. doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2018.09.009
4. Simpson RJ, Kunz H, Agha N, Graff R. Exercise and regulation of immune function. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2015;135:355-380. doi:10.1016/bs.pmbts.2015.08.001
5. Tsalamandris S, Antonopoulos AS, Oikonomou E, et al. The role of inflammation in diabetes: current concepts and future perspectives. Euro heart. 2019;14(1):50-59. doi:10.15420/ecr.2018.33.1
