Exercise is a medicine for the human being and one of those responsible for keeping our body in good condition and functional.
When you make a moderate amount of it, the immune system will always be alert and in good condition. This will keep us away from illnesses and colds. However, for each person exercise tolerance is different: some can exercise more than others without becoming too fatigued. Therefore, the key is to find a balance that leads your body to always be healthy.
Find out if too much exercise can damage your immune system .
Is the immune system strengthened by exercise?
There are two very effective ways to strengthen the immune system , both complementary: a good diet and exercising, in an adequate proportion, will keep your system in good condition and alert.
If you exercise you will keep your immune system active without weaknesses, as long as you don't overdo it. However, if you overdo it, you could expose your body to levels of stress that can lead to different diseases.
To understand this a little better, we give you an example. We have 2 different rugby players: one will play two games and the other only one. At the end of the day, the one who only played one game is going to get an improvement in his performance; While the one who played two games will have a very high physical exhaustion, which could be bad for him and weaken his performance. (Takahashi et al., 2007)
Immune system and excess exercise
When exercising in excess, the level of neutrophils drops considerably , as well as the action of phagocytes. This continuous pathology over time can lead to a decline in the immune system. (Takahashi et al., 2007)
To get more into context, neutrophils make up the majority of defender cells, being the most important. If the number of neutrophils falls, there will be a high probability of getting sick and that a bacterium, fungus, parasite reaches the body.
On the other hand, the task of phagocytes is to ingest foreign bodies. and cleanse the body of the remains of everything bad. If you have them at low levels, the body will overflow with things that it does not need and that could harm you.
These are the main causes, by which, the immune system can be weakened . The most common thing that can happen in these cases is suffering from the flu, pneumonia; as well as the entry of bacteria, viruses and parasites.
How to avoid the fall of the immune system
For when it comes to physical activity, avoiding the fall of defenses is very simple. All you have to do is regulate the entire workout. Try not to exceed any limit of your body, rest and eat well.
A good routine that brings out your best performance, but also gives you enough time to rest and recover, is perfect. After some time training, your defenses will remain intact and you will be able to advance in your level of demand.
Another important point to keep in mind is that this applies mostly to demanding workouts. Therefore, if your exercise is very demanding, try not to be long or, instead, do light workouts.
conclusion
They always tell us that everything in excess is bad, and that even good can turn bad, and exercise is no exception. Therefore, always keep in mind that, when you do sports, you should not exceed your limits because it will worsen your performance and you can even damage your body.
References
- Haycock DA Does Exercise Weaken Immune System? For Livestrong [Revised January 2020]
- Takahashi M., Umeda T., Mashiko T., Chinda D., Oyama T., Sugawara K., and Nakaji S. (2007). Effects of rugby sevens matches on human neutrophil-related non-specific immunity. British Journal of Sports Medicine . doi: 10.1136 / bjsm.2006.027888
