Regular movement and exercise is not only great for your heart but can also improve your immune system.
Balance is the key, for too little or too much exercise can reduce your immune system, due to free radical damage. Exercise supports both the systemic (whole-body cellular) response and mucosal (mucous lining of the respiratory tract) response to an infectious virus.
A published paper in 2019 study by Nieman and Wentz in NCBI revealed that regular exercise had an overall anti-inflammatory influence mediated through multiple pathways and created a surge in the circulation of innate immune cells, thus improving immune function.
With many of us social distancing and working from home there are still lots of beneficial ways to exercise. Most countries you can still go for a bike ride, walk or jog, which we as a family find wonderful to prevent ‘cabin fever’. There are many online options too so choose your favourite movement or choose something online you have never done before. Anything that has cardiovascular benefits and gets your heart rate up is great for you to incorporate into your daily life.
At Rejuv we offer online PT sessions with our movement specialist Simon Kerr, so you stay accountable and supported to reach your goals. I personally like this level of accountability and to be specialised for my specific goals and life demands (especially now homeschooling 3 children under 11years old).
Mix up different activities that will help to strengthen your core and create motion for your whole body so you’re not just a lab rat on a treadmill conveyor belt (as Elle Macpherson once said to me, which was great advice).
If you are homeschooling try dancing, musical chairs or creating an in-house obstacle course, anything fun works.
Exercise produces endorphins, our natural happiness drug, which aids us in avoiding depression and also helps to increase bone density, guarding against osteoporosis.
Your respiratory system really needs to be supported at this time so if you are jogging outside in cold weather wear a scarf around your neck/throat to avoid cold air causing vasoconstriction to your lungs. Also, try to incorporate breath work to focus on your exhale and to oxygenate your body. I’ve been suggesting Wim Hoff breathing techniques & other breath work to my patients for many years with great success. You can download Wim’s app which is great.
I also love the rebounder for it helps tone all of your 100 trillion cells, flush out your lymphatic system including bacteria and other dead cells, therefore supporting your immune system. Great to help improve balance, coordination, motor skills and supports bone density too.
