Immune Health & Exercise
To help us think about how to stay safe during this public health crisis, we looked at a few academic articles in the field of immune health and exercise. As with all fields, there are competing viewpoints, but we’ve leaned on these sources for the following information and we are grateful for the private communication with some of these authors:
- “Should, and how can, exercise be done during a coronavirus outbreak? An interview with Dr. Jeffrey A. Woods.” Journal of Sport Health Science. Retrieved March 17: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7031769/
- “Can exercise affect immune function to increase susceptibility to infection?” Exercise Immunology Review. Simpson, Campbell, Gleeson, Kruger, Nieman, Turner, Pyne, and Walsh. Retrieved March 17: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339775058_Can_exercise_affect_immune_function_to_increase_susceptibility_to_infection?)
- “Debunking the Myth of Exercise-Induced Immune Suppression: Redefining the Impact of Exercise on Immunological Health Across the Lifespan.” Frontiers in Immunology. Campbell and Turner. Retrieved March 15: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00648/full
- “Recommendations to maintain immune health in athletes.” European Journal of Sport Science. Neil P. Walsh. Retrieved March 17: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2018.1449895
Takeways In Support of Exercise:
From the Simpson, Campbell, Gleeson et al article: There is agreement that “Regular bouts of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise are beneficial for the normal functioning of the immune system and likely help lower the risk of respiratory infection/illness and some cancers. The frequent exchange of immune cells between the blood and the tissues with each bout of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise likely contributes to enhanced immune surveillance, improved health and a lower risk of illness.”
From Woods: “It is safe to exercise during the coronavirus outbreak. One should not limit the multitude of health benefits that exercise provides us on a daily basis just because there is a new virus in our environment. However, there may be some additional precautions to reduce your risk of infection.”
From Campbell and Turner: “evidence from epidemiological studies shows that leading a physically active lifestyle reduces the incidence of communicable (e.g., bacterial and viral infections) and non- communicable diseases (e.g., cancer), implying that immune competency is enhanced by regular exercise bouts . . . exercise should be encouraged, particularly for older adults who are at greatest risk of infections and who may obtain the greatest exercise-induced benefits to immune competency.” AND “leading an active lifestyle is likely to be beneficial, rather than detrimental, to immune function . . . “
Opposing Viewpoint
According to the Simpson, Campbell, Gleeson et al article, there is a viewpoint that “illness risk may be elevated during periods of heavy exertion that go beyond recommended physical activity guidelines, especially when other stressors are present.”