This flu season is like none I remember. Looking at the news feed on Facebook reads like a tragic stock ticker displaying all the people who are or are afraid of catching the latest super flu. If you are not sick, you know someone who is or are bombarded with the risks and fears of the latest epidemic. As a personal trainer in Red Deer I am deeply bothered by the escalation of flu pandemics in recent years, from H1N1 and beyond to all the mass public paranoia. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way down playing the severity of the situation but sometimes our fears begin to supersede logic and some times even common sense.
In a time such as this one thing is certainly clear, as a society we’re not taking very good care of ourselves. Our body, the miraculous machine that it is, is designed to protect itself. Due to lack of maintenance many bodies are not meeting this task very well at the moment. Much like our cars we need to provide the proper fuels and regular tune ups.
With all the hoopla surrounding the flu in the world of fitness professionals we are seeing plenty of information re-circulate citing
studies demonstrating the link between moderate exercise and immune system strength and enhancement. Physorg.com began a recent article with the following, “It appears as though exercise pain does have plenty of gain when it comes to
fighting off the severe effects of the flu.”
The studies of five Iowa researches that were discussed in this article explained the results of testing in a group of mice exposed to the influenza virus. Mice that ran on a treadmill regularly for three and a half months had greatly diminished amounts of the virus within their bodies as opposed to the test group. Even a group that exercised for 45 minutes only on the day of infection still experienced diminished effects of the flu.
Another article on sportsmedicine.about.com explained how studies have shown recreational exercisers to report fewer colds once they began exercising. As quoted from the article, “Moderate exercise has been linked to a positive immune system response and a temporary boost in the production of macrophages, the cells that attack bacteria. It is believed that regular, consistent exercise can lead to substantial benefits in immune system health over the long-term.”
The article went on to explain that even more studies have shown the link between moderate exercise and the immune system. It is believed that exercise allows the immune cells to circulate more rapidly and kill bacteria faster. Once exercise ends the immune system generally returns to normal within a few hours, but when performed on a near daily basis there appears to be a cumulative effect to the immune system.
Now with all this being said I think it’s important to clarify what exactly this means when it comes to exercising the immune system, as the wrong exercise can have the completely opposite effect.
Generally for immune-enhancement the activity performed should be cardiovascular activity performed at a steady pace for the duration. On an effort scale of 1-10 (10 being the most difficult) it should be moderately difficult to a maximum of about a 6-7. Resistance training often has the opposite effect once you are feeling the symptoms of illness or are actually sick. Though resistance training is a very key component of good health when we are otherwise healthy, it will not be of any benefit in boosting our compromised immune system when we are sick. In fact when sick the resources required for recovery of tissues naturally damaged in resistance training may worsen symptoms or further compromise the immune system.
The moral of this story is: maintain good habits and provide regular body maintenance to live a long healthy life. (And yes guys even we need to do cardio on a regular basis.)
