Fit through autumn and winter: Part 6 - Exercise
"Sitting is the new smoking" they say, by which they mean that the many sedentary activities lead to
lead to us falling ill more easily, especially because the cardiovascular system needs a lot of exercise,
to function well.
I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty. On the contrary. Rather, I want to
a vision for an energised, strong body. A body that is not limp and sluggish,
but vibrates with energy and is therefore better able to withstand viruses and bacteria.
A concept of sufficient activity and movement in everyday life helps your body to find and maintain a healthy balance. To do this, you should
- Do not deliberately weaken yourself (too little exercise favours weight gain, among other things)
- relieve stress (by giving the body the right amount of exercise, it can reduce stress)
- and strengthen (through targeted training)
This makes your body strong and efficient. Your susceptibility to infectious diseases decreases.
How does exercise affect the immune system?
Firstly, exercise reduces stress, which can potentially damage the immune system. It also activates the gut - a healthy gut is very important for the immune system, as many defence cells are produced there.
Moderate endurance sport also has a training effect on the immune system. Potentially harmful cells are eliminated more efficiently and the lymphocytes are also more active. Infectious diseases of the respiratory tract such as colds, sore throats or tonsillitis are significantly less common in recreational athletes compared to untrained people.
Adrenaline is released during physical exertion. The hormone causes defence cells to multiply faster and become more active.
This increases
- Natural killer cells (NK cells), which are responsible for eliminating tumour cells, among other things
- White blood cells
- T and B lymphocytes are therefore more abundant in the blood
What types of exercise are particularly helpful?
Anything that gives the body a moderate workout and is perceived as relaxing promotes stress reduction and immune defence. It also strengthens the heart and blood vessels.
It is important not to push yourself to the absolute limit - too much physical exertion and stress leads to a drop in defence cells and weakens the immune system (some athletes therefore take the immune system-boosting protein glutamine after very intensive sport to protect themselves from infections).
Endurance sports are particularly recommended:
- Gymnastics
- Jogging
- Walking and hiking
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Trampoline - Jogging
Alternate intensity
If you challenge your body too much, you trigger stress. If you challenge it too little, you are not activating it enough. Ideally, however, 65-70 % of training time should be completed at a low intensity, 20-25% at medium intensity and only a maximum of 5% at higher intensities.
You can do this, for example, by cycling at a leisurely pace and occasionally adding in a two-minute sprint by cycling so fast that you are almost out of breath. The same principle applies to walking, jogging, swimming, etc.
Extra tip: Good routines help. Here are a few specific ideas that you can incorporate into your daily routine. Why don't you pick out one of them, or think of a way to get more exercise yourself. Do this one thing every day for a week. Then reflect: What has happened as a result of this extra movement?
- Get at least 30 minutes of active exercise a day. You can find tips here: https://down-to-earth.de/shop/fit-in-minuten-leichtes-training- fuer-zwischendurch-gert-und-marlen-von-kunhardt/
- Incorporate more moderate exercise into your daily routine.
- Take "cool" walks with as little clothing as possible so that you feel a little chilly.
