The Link Between Exercise And A Strong Immune System

Exercise has been long established as a way to help boost immune function. For the general population, it is an easy way to get healthier and help prevent infections during cold and flu seasons and keep their immunity up throughout the year¹. There is evidence that exercise can help decrease systemic swelling over time, which is a potent cause of disease and infection in humans, but if you look closer at the research, much of that is by way of excess body weight reduction, specifically visceral fat mass². While exercise is good, too much can be detrimental to your immune system as well, in fact this is seen in many elite athletes by the frequency of upper respiratory tract infections they develop while training³.

Not only does exercise help with prevention of trivial infections, but it also goes hand-in-hand with risk reduction of development of Type II diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Dementia, and more⁴. The chronic effect of exercise again has large implications of reduction of inflammation present within the body, as more research has shown recently that chronic inflammation plays a large role in the proliferation of metabolic diseases⁵.

So how do we go about utilizing this wonderful immune booster? Your best bet is to stick with 150 minutes of exercise per week recommended by the CDC. Within those 150 minutes, you should stick with a mixed modality approach of resistance training and cardio.

If you currently have any aches or pains that are preventing activity, or are unsure of where to start, contact your local Athletico for a free assessment today. Free Assessments are available in-clinic and virtually through our Telehealth platform.

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*Per federal guidelines, beneficiaries of plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, VHA and other federally funded plans are not eligible for free assessments.

The Athletico blog is an educational resource written by Athletico employees. Athletico bloggers are licensed professionals who abide by the code of ethics outlined by their respective professional associations. The content published in blog posts represents the opinion of the individual author based on their expertise and experience. The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice and should not be relied on for making personal health decisions.

References:
1. da Silveira MP, da Silva Fagundes KK, Bizuti MR, Starck É, Rossi RC, de Resende E Silva DT. Physical exercise as a tool to help the immune system against COVID-19: an integrative review of the current literature. Clin Exp Med. 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. The anti-inflammatory effects of exercise: mechanisms and implications for the prevention and treatment of disease. Nat Rev Immunol. 2011;11(9):607-615. Published 2011 Aug 5. doi:10.1038/nri3041
3. Nieman DC, Wentz LM. The compelling link between physical activity and the body’s defense system. J Sport 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 the Regulation of Immune Functions. 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. Eur Cardiol. 2019;14(1):50-59. doi:10.15420/ecr.2018.33.1