Why is everyone talking about immunity and exercise? Why is everyone talking about immunity and exercise?
Centr Team
24 Jun 2020
Supplements, probiotics, vitamins… When it comes to our immune system, we’ve been sold a lot of “magic pills” and outright myths. One of the most worrying misconceptions we’ve come across is the belief that exercise can weaken or suppress your immune system.
While the truth is there’s no one trick that will instantly give you a healthy and functioning immune system, staying active and getting plenty of exercise can play a huge role in keeping illness at bay.
How does my immune system work, anyway?
Your immune system has three rings of defense: physical, innate, and adaptive. The physical barrier is your skin, which stops germs (AKA pathogens) from getting in. A cut or graze on your skin can allow direct entry to germs – but research has shown that regular exercise can accelerate the healing of wounds.
Your innate defense is made up of immune cells – including the excellently named natural killer cells – which respond to and control infections. When you exercise, these natural killer cells are released into your bloodstream, where they seek out sites of infection or damage and get to work.
And think of adaptive immunity as your body’s memory bank. This part of your immune system is comprised of cells that learn and remember, so when a germ or virus enters your body for a second time, you have antibodies ready and waiting to fight back.
This is where the concept of ‘herd immunity’ comes from – the hope that once we’ve caught something like the coronavirus, the antibodies remaining in our body make us immune so we can’t catch it again or pass it on. However, research appears to suggest that COVID-19 antibodies are lost quickly, in just 2-3 months.
Regular exercise throughout life helps to maintain levels of clever adaptive immunity cells, further protecting us as we age.
A mid- to high-intensity workout triggers your body's "natural killer cells" to get to work.
So if I do 20 push-ups before going out, I’ll be fine?
A healthy, well-functioning immune system can not be achieved overnight. And sadly, busting out a quick HIIT workout isn’t an instant vaccine or cure. But there is good news. Just like you train consistently to build muscles or improve your endurance when exercise is a consistent, long-term habit it will have a big, positive impact on your immune system.Think about it like this: when you’re just hanging around, watching Netflix and scrolling social media, your innate defense – including our old natural killer cell buddies – is off doing its own thing, hiding away. By exercising, you increase blood flow around your body, coaxing a huge amount of immune cells out of hiding and into an all-expenses-paid trip around your body – where they can search out pathogens and put a stop to them.
A 2019 study showed that after a brisk 45-minute walk, immune cells continue to circulate around the body for up to 3 hours. The cells will go back into hiding after that time – unless, of course, you stay active. Working out and exercising regularly helps your body stay alert on all fronts, armed and ready to wipe out the next invading germ army.
And what about that misconception that exercise can lower your immunity?
That came about in the ’80s, when studies of athletes competing in marathons led to the “open-window” theory – the idea that a single bout of vigorous or prolonged exercise temporarily suppresses the immune system, increasing your risk of infection for a short window of time. However, in recent years this research has been debunked – showing participants to be no more at risk of infection than anyone else attending a mass gathering or traveling by air.
The upshot of all of this is that the regular training you’ve been doing with Centr is doing you even more good than you might have thought.
Stick with it, stay consistent, and keep fighting the good fight.
