For me, one of the many big lessons of this past year and a half has been realizing the importance of your health, and how important it is to do whatever you can to safeguard it.

Today I am going to talk about the role exercise can play when it comes to staying healthy! Working out and moving your body regularly is a BIG part of a healthy lifestyle. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year, our schedules were disrupted – and for many people - their healthy routines right along with it!

It’s time to get back on the fitness bandwagon, because your body deserves it. YOU deserve it.

A while back, the Journal of Sport and Health Science published a review of studies into the link between the immune system and exercise. 

Basically, they rounded up a bunch of relevant scientific studies and analyzed all the results to come up with some conclusions.

First, your immune system responds pretty quickly to exercise by revving up. Researchers found that if you do moderate to high-intensity exercise in sessions lasting less than an hour, your immune system gets an immediate short-term boost. BUT … you also can get even MORE benefit from regular exercise because it’ll not only help improve your immune system, but also your metabolic health.

Regular workouts are also linked with a lower risk of catching or dying from the flu or pneumonia. That definitely deserves a LIKE! But there’s something else you should know. Moderation is a good thing!

It is possible to overstress your system so that your immune system takes a hit. That can happen if you work out too hard for too long, like an athlete preparing for a major sporting event and not resting enough. The researchers found it can also happen if you have a ton of stress going on in your life ... 

Things like not eating enough, not feeding your body healthy foods, not getting enough sleep, having a lot of life stress, and then beating yourself up in your workouts by working too hard. 

All of that can set you up for getting sick.

So the takeaway is: regular exercise that lasts from 30 to 60 minutes a day most definitely helps rev up your immune system so that it can help your body fight off illness.

In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine put out a recommendation saying that very same thing back in August. 

They said it’s essential for people both in normal health AND with chronic conditions to “activate, maintain, and advance” their physical activity to 30 min to 60 min most days of the week. And they also said it may not be the time to train for peak performance.

Now obviously if you have any health issues and your workouts, or have any questions about health issues whatsoever, you should check with your doctor. 

But it’s time to get back on track with your healthy habits and get those workouts going again! Are you ready?