Thirty minutes a day, five days a week, or 150 minutes a week of exercise is needed.
Regular exercise reduces the chances of dying from infectious diseases such as COVID-19 by more than a third. It also makes people 31% less likely to catch the virus. The study, conducted by the Sports Medicine journal carried out a review of 16,698 worldwide studies between 1980 and 2020.
The study showed a strong link between exercise and COVID-19 immunity. It concluded that people need to be doing 30 minutes a day, five days a week of exercise. This exercise would ideally get them out of breath.
Physical Activity
Recommended activities include walking, running, cycling and strengthening exercises. Such physical activity can also make vaccines up to 40% more effective,
The scientists concluded that exercise can result in a “31% decrease in the risk of infectious disease“. The research also showed a 37% decrease in the risk of death as a consequence of infectious diseases. Finally, an increase in the efficacy of vaccination against viral disease such as COVID-19″.
The “hugely significant” research “could help to cut the number people contracting COVID-19 and dying from it”.
So, exercise where you get out of breath boosts your immunity to infectious disease by 31%. It increases the number of immune cells in the body, which is your first line of defence.
Commit to a programme
It has to be a regular commitment. Adding physical activity to your vaccination programme it increases the potency of the vaccination. The study recommends a 12-weeks physical activity programme before vaccination which could result in 20 to 40% more effective immunisation.
Whilst this is great to hear, is it groundbreaking news that exercise is good for you?
I’ve done a few posts to highlight the overall and health benefits of running, which you can read here and here.
