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With late sunrises and a warm doona, a run in the rain or snow has lost its appeal. But could skipping that workout actually make you more likely to catch the flu or seasonal bug?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWith late sunrises and a warm doona, a run in the rain or snow has lost its appeal. But could skipping that workout actually make you more likely to catch the flu or seasonal bug?<\/p>\n
Can regular exercise help keep winter bugs at bay? Researchers at Monash University examine what the evidence really says about staying active during the colder months.<\/p>\n
Winter has a way of making the office, train and school pick-up line feel like a giant petri dish of germs and potential infection. It\u2019s also when many of us quietly let our exercise routine slide.<\/p>\n
With late sunrises and a warm doona, a run in the rain or snow has lost its appeal. But could skipping that workout actually make you more likely to catch the flu or seasonal bug?<\/p>\n
The short answer: regular, moderate exercise probably\u00a0does lower your risk of catching a cold or flu<\/a>. But it won\u2019t cure you once you\u2019ve got it, and more exercise isn\u2019t always better.<\/p>\n Exercise and the immune system<\/p>\n When you exercise, your muscles contract and release signalling proteins called\u00a0myokines<\/a>.<\/p>\n These natural chemical messengers help mobilise beneficial immune cells \u2013 particularly natural killer cells and T-cells \u2013 and redistribute them throughout the bloodstream and bodily tissues. This improves the immune system response to threats, making your body better at fighting infection.<\/p>\n However, the effect isn\u2019t permanent. Within hours after exercise, your cell counts (a measure of how your immune system is responding) return to normal.<\/p>\n But\u00a0researchers think<\/a>\u00a0repeated bouts of these immune \u201cboosts\u201d do add up over time, building an immune system that detects and responds to viruses more efficiently.<\/p>\n Regular moderate exercise also appears to lower chronic inflammation, which otherwise prevents your immune system working as well as it should.<\/p>\n The evidence backs this up, if imperfectly. A\u00a02022 review<\/a>\u00a0of the evidence concludes that physically active people consistently report fewer respiratory infections than those who do very little physical activity.<\/p>\n Prevention, not the cure<\/p>\n Exercise won\u2019t shorten a cold you already have, and there\u2019s no evidence an intense gym session \u201csweats out\u201d a virus.<\/p>\n What the research supports is exercise as a preventative tool. Think of exercise as a way to reduce your chances of getting sick rather than preventing it altogether. Even very fit people catch colds and flu.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a caveat, sometimes called the immune \u201cJ-curve<\/a>\u201d: very prolonged, high-intensity exercise can lead to a temporary dip in immune function in the hours afterwards.<\/p>\n This mostly affects endurance athletes doing significant amounts of training \u2013 think marathon training, not a lunchtime walk.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0more recent research<\/a>\u00a0questions how large that risk really is. For most of us average folks, going beyond the healthy amount of weekly physical activity is not a concern.<\/p>\n How much exercise and physical activity do you actually need?<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to train like an athlete.\u00a0Guidelines recommend<\/a>\u00a0adults do 150\u2013300 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, or 75\u2013150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity. Or you can do an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous activity.<\/p>\n Moderate intensity means anything that noticeably lifts your heart rate and breathing: a brisk walk, cycling, swimming, raking leaves, even dancing in the kitchen. It doesn\u2019t need to be a structured \u201cworkout\u201d.<\/p>\n Vigorous intensity means any activity of any duration that gets us huffing and puffing.<\/p>\n A way to test exercise intensity is with the \u201ctalk and sing\u201d test. At moderate intensity, you\u2019ll be able to talk but not sing. At vigorous intensity, you won\u2019t be able to talk without pausing to catch your breath.<\/p>\n Finding motivation when its cold and dark<\/p>\n Winter motivation is a genuine hurdle. But a few things can help:<\/p>\n treat exercise as a fixed appointment, not something you\u2019ll \u201cfind time\u201d for To exercise or to rest? The million dollar question<\/p>\n The trickiest calls come when you\u2019re not quite sick but feel run down.<\/p>\n Many clinicians use a simple \u201cneck check<\/a>\u201d. This means if symptoms are above the neck (for example, a runny nose, sneezing, a mild sore throat) light-to-moderate exercise is generally fine, though it\u2019s sensible to ease off the intensity and duration.<\/p>\n If you have symptoms below the neck (such as a chest cough or upset stomach) or symptoms affecting your whole body (such as fever, body aches or serious fatigue)\u00a0rest is the better call<\/a>.<\/p>\n Exercising\u00a0with a fever<\/a>\u00a0raises your core temperature further, can worsen dehydration, and adds strain on your heart.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re simply feeling flat or short on sleep, rather than unwell, a gentle walk is unlikely to do harm and may even help. But it\u2019s also a good moment to prioritise sleep and lower the intensity rather than push through a hard session.<\/p>\n None of this makes exercise a substitute for a flu shot, hand-washing or staying home when you\u2019re contagious.<\/p>\n But as one of the few winter habits genuinely within our control, regular exercise and physical activity is a reasonable, low-cost way to tilt the odds in your favour.<\/p>\n Matthew Ahmadi<\/a>, Associate Professor of Digital Health; Joanne Caldwell Odgers<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Physiology; and Nicholas Koemel<\/a>, Senior Research Fellow in Digital Health, Monash University<\/a>. Republished from The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nmove it indoors on bad weather days
\nbreak it into smaller chunks, such as three five-to-ten minute walks \u2013 these work as well as a single 30-minute session
\nexercise with a friend, if accountability helps you
\nget outside when you can \u2013 especially when the sun is out.<\/p>\n