Best Workouts to Boost Your Immune System
A huge part of healthy living and a properly functioning body has to do with our immune system. If we didn’t have one, we wouldn’t make it on planet earth. With that being said, we can arguably say the stronger your immune system is, the healthier you are. You’ll be able to avoid getting sick more often, protecting your body from infection. That comes in handy at all times, but particularly when you’re stressed out, traveling, or during cold and flu season.
We’ve researched and used the following workouts proven to most effectively boost the immune system to help you out!
#1- Cycling
The thymus, which is an organ that creates immune cells called “T-cells” typically starts to get smaller after we turn 20 years old. However, it’s been proven that the thymuses of older cyclists had actually been creating just as many T-cells as younger ones! This means that older cyclists will have an added protection against things like rheumatoid arthritis, which can be debilitating.
However, the benefits are there for people of all ages. It will also help you maintain a healthy weight. Those with a healthy body weight are at lower risk for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and much more. Plus, cycling outside will allow you to soak in some extra rays. If the weather isn’t ideal, you can always hop on a recumbent bike for the same benefits!
#2- Walking
Is there any exercise easier out there to do than walking? Most of us do it every day in some way, shape, or form anyway. We may as well do lace up our walking shoes and do it a bit more! Studies show that walking at least 30 minutes a day boosts the levels of leukocytes, which repel infections and viruses in our bodies. If you’re not used to exercise, just make sure you initially take things slow and don’t overdo it as you could start to experience negative effects.
However, if you do want to amp things up, high-intensity workouts have also been known to improve our mood and decrease stress hormones, which also can leave us more vulnerable to disease. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy getting some fresh air into their lungs and starting the day off on the right foot?
If you aren’t too keen on heading outdoors due to the weather or some other reason, there’s no need to worry. There are plenty of indoor exercise machines like treadmills and vertical climbers that can help yield similar results.
#3- Yoga/Tai Chi
Looking to connect with your spiritual side or do you just enjoy a more low-impact alternative? Then take up yoga or tai chi. These practices not only help you improve your muscle tone, flexibility, and balance, but your mind as well. Keeping a special focus on meditation and breathing control, you may just experience rapid lymph movement. This is essential for our lymphatic systems, which destroy waste, create antibodies and additional lymphatic cells. Both have also been proven to lower stress, which keeps our immune systems strong and ourselves happy.
#4- Strength Training
Including strength training in your exercise routine is going to offer up excellent results all-around. First off, it will help you build and strengthen your muscles. Through this process, an amino acid called “glutamine” is produced, which our immune systems absolutely love and require. Resistance training also increases the amount of certain white blood cells which help fight off infection and repair damaged muscle tissues, too.
Moreover, squats performed until failure resulted in a near-identical immune response to that seen with intense endurance exercise, with a lower mean oxygen consumption. That means that you could reap benefits only received from long cardio workouts, in less time. While more studies definitely need to be done, the results from those we do have look promising.
#5- Hiking
If you live in a hilly area, you may want to start taking advantage of the landscapes in your city. Hiking is one of the best exercises you can do. Not only does it feel wonderful to have the breeze blowing through your hair and taking in the fresh air and scenery, but it helps strengthen our immune systems.
Hiking is an excellent cardio exercise which can improve our mood and body composition by lowering our body fat and strengthening our muscles. Not only that, but a study was conducted which revealed that after hiking twice daily for 3 days, hikers’ white blood cells had increased by a whopping 40%! White blood cells are necessary in fighting off disease and infection, so don’t let your hiking boots collect dust!
If you’re not quite ready for hiking, another study showed that just a single day trip to a city park boosted the levels of white blood cells for a whole week afterward.
Summary
Now that you’ve read through each of the best workouts for boosting your immune system, which one are you going to incorporate into your lifestyle? You could even switch things up by picking a few to perform each week for maximum benefits and versatility. No matter which you select, you can feel confident knowing your immune system is getting stronger each day. Thanks for joining us and happy sweating!
About the author:
Health & Wellness 365 is an online resource devoted to informing users and interested readers about new health, wellness and medical topics. They are constantly seeking new developments in a variety of areas from Othopedics and Elderly Therapies to Exercise Technology and Essential Oils. To learn more about Health & Wellness 365, please click here.