The New York Times Well blog, in its ever-snarked, contrarian way, asked recently "Does Exercise Boost Immunity?". The answer: moderate exercise boosts the immune system and intense exercise hampers it.
This answer requires some explanation. What do moderate and intense mean and just how much boosting and hampering are we talking about?
According to this article, moderate exercise is compared to a leisurely jog or walk. For endurance athletes, a leisurely jog is a warm-up. Intense exercise is described as "a workout or race of an hour or more during which your heart rate and respiration soar and you feel as if you are working hard". For endurance athletes, this is 2 out of every 3 workouts.
The endurance athlete's "neck check" needs some refinement. The traditional guideline for endurance athletes is to go ahead with a workout if your illness is a head cold -- above the neck. If you're sick below the neck -- with a cough or something intestinal (or a fever) -- ditch the workout to avoid getting worse.
One expert interviewed said that "Moderate exercise...may prop up your immune response and lessen the duration and severity of a mild infection....It is okay to exercise if you have a simple head cold or congestion — in fact, it may improve the way you feel. I would avoid heavy, prolonged exercise with a head cold, though.".
So endurance athletes fighting a cold (or fighting to stay healthy in a germ-ridden workplace) should adjust their workout intensity. Skip the intervals and stick with easy, aerobic workouts like a zone 1-2 ride or base run for intervals.
Heck, isn't that what the off season is for?
No comments:
Post a Comment