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COVID-19 Research

EXERCISE AND IMMUNITY – The “Goldilocks” Point

The relationship between exercise and the immune systems is intensely complex with many moving variables. Exercise generally improves the immune system. The more exercise done, and the more regularly, the more the immune system is boosted.

However, there is always a tipping point. Athletes are often pushed into longer bouts of exercise, and/or more intense training. This goes as well for some “general exercisers” who maybe don’t think to label themselves as “athletes,” but will still grind out intense workouts that are on par for athletes. I have seen this with recreational marathon runners, obstacle course racers, and people going “all in” for 30-, 60-, or 90-day challenges with their gyms or trainers. They may not think of themselves as “athletes,” yet they are putting in long hours and hard sessions, sometimes multiple workouts per day. Anyone working out intensely for over 45 minutes, more than 4 times a week, I would argue should call themselves at least “recreational athletes.”

In addition to increases in bodily pains and risk of injury, it’s not uncommon to see upper respiratory illnesses (URIs, ie: coughing, congestion, sinus drainage) and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs, ie: common cold and influenza) in recreational and elite athletes. 

URIs are more about inflammation from training. Reports show it can be due to inhaled pollutants or allergies, chlorine vapors for swimmers, cold and dry air; age; sleep quality; and more. Keeping inflammation low before exercising may help reduce the over-inflammatory state brought on by intense exercise, and protect respiratory health.

URTI is based on a pathogenic infection (ie: bacteria, virus), so these are more about your immune system faltering and being overcome by the invisible invaders. URTIs are suggested to be the most common type of infection in the athletic population. But if exercise boosts the immune system, why is this happening?

Some exercise is good.

Indeed, some movement is good. Quality and consistent movement is great. Studies show that “moderately active” living poses greater resistance to pathogens by boosting the immune system surveillance of the body. “Moderate exercise” is somewhat subjective, but tends to range around 30 minutes of movement at 60-75% intensity, 4-6 days a week.

Acute Exercise, or just getting started

Training load or volume alone does not give full information on the level of stress that an athlete (and their immune system) is under. Rapid changes in training load (i.e., starting from nothing, or increasing too quickly) was a better predictor of URI risk than total load alone. This shows that it’s not just the amount of training, but jumping in too quickly can be detrimental to the immune system.

This is different than someone who has adapted to longer or more intense levels of exercise over time. Much like their bodies are adapted to recover faster between training sessions, the immune system also learned to rebound more rapidly.

Can it be too much?

That tipping point of “too much” strenuous and/or prolonged bouts of exercise can temporarily reduce the immune system (“exercise-induced immunodepression”) for a few hours to a few days, depending on the nature of the exercise and the health status of the person, as well as the rest time before the next round of exercise. This immunodepressed state is the time the individual is at higher risk of contracting a URI or URTI.

The less adapted to high frequency/intensity/duration of training, the higher the stress levels spike, and the lower the immune system plummets after. What goes up, must come down. But in time, you can taper the peak and the drop.

The Fallout After Intense, Acute Exercise

A research review by Walsh et al. sound that the times of illness were more common during the high intensity training periods (high stress and inflammation in the body), or about 1-2 weeks after as the body gets to rest (incubation period.) Likewise, Nieman et al saw that likelihood of URI in marathon trainers was doubled in those who ran >96 km compared to those who ran 32 km as part of their weekly training.

The J-Curve Versus the S-Curve

The J-curves are the bold purple and red lines, showing that infection risk is average with a sedentary life. Then the immune system gets a boost, thus reducing infection risk, as a person moves into active or moderate exercise. But following that curve then leads to a split in research. At first, heavy or prolonged training seems to have a rebound effect, causing infection risk to go above average – but not always!

It seems that some athletes can reach “elite” status, and as their body adapts to these bouts of exercise, the curve instead moves into an S-curve and infection risk normalizes again, and the immune system can recover, coming back to average as the athlete-in-training adapts.

Lifestyle and the Elite Athletewhat you can learn from them

There have been some that suggest a prerequisite to achieving “elite” athlete status is an immune system which can withstand the strenuous nature of training and competition. Essentially, one cannot push to elite levels of training if the immune system cannot keep up.

And as past articles and posts have shown, there are ways you can help enhance your immune system through lifestyle, diet, and supplements.

If the body is not used to the intense exercise, there is more inflammation and damage to the muscle fibers and tissues. Elite athletes, however, are trained better for this stress on the body. Likewise, elite athletes are usually tackling many aspects of their lifestyle to optimize their performance: sleeping well; properly fueling before, during, and after workouts; keeping a focused mindset; drinking plenty of water; stretching and recovering. They often tap into additional resources for support: keeping up on the latest in sport science, seeking out medical professionals, getting advice from nutrition professionals, working with trainers, and more. Genes may play a role, but this support team shows that managing other aspects is important and can help in injury and illness prevention.

In the complexity of the immune system, the research does note that humans have demonstrated lower resistance to URTI when there is weakness or problems with other life stressors such as dietary deficiencies, psychological stress, sleep disturbance. In fact, the presence of nearly any of these other risk factors will cause a weaker immune response, and increase the risk of illness following prolonged exercise.

Lifestyle matters.

Could these lifestyle behaviors be another layer of protection for athletes and people looking to begin exercising, or boost their current training? Absolutely.

Overall:

Athletes and individuals involved in heavy training programs and/or prolonged bouts of exercise appear to have an increased risk of contracting URIs. This is likely related to regular acute (and possibly chronic) periods of exercise-induced immunodepression. Regular moderate exercise, on the other hand, appears to have the opposite effect and reduces infection risk. So if you are looking to boost your training, pair gradual increases in exercise with healthy lifestyle habits to keep your infection risk as low as possible.

WHAT SHOULD I DO, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS CORONAVIRUS CRISIS?

In addition to the nutrition, sleep, and stress management tips discussed on the other pages of this report, these are tips revolved around exercise that you should keep in mind:

  • Move at least 30 minutes, 4-6 times per week. If you want to go above that, do so mindfully. There are benefits, but you want to give your body time to rest and adapt to an increased load. It is tempting for some who are finally getting their new quarantine routines down to want to double up workouts, or go for longer runs than they normally have time for. Be mindful, and gradually work your way up. This will reduce your risk of injury and illness.
  • Be sure to warm up and cool down appropriately.
  • Recover well. Stretch and foam roll. Rest and sleep to give your body enough time to recover between bouts of exercise.
  • Learn about proper form, get proper shoes, and ensure all other ergonomic aspects of exercise are optimized to reduce physical stress and injury.
  • Work with a trainer who knows how to periodize properly and can create workout plans that challenge you without shocking your system
  • Fuel properly before, during, and after workouts to enhance the workout efforts as well as maximize post-workout recovery.

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