We know running makes us fit and healthier but the biggest running irony is that the fitter you are, the worse you are at fighting off illness.
My home town is suffering from a flu epidemic and I have not been spared. I have been coughing and sneezing.
Exercise can make you sick
According to an article I read lasy year on Guardian online, Exercise can make you sick!
According to Dr. Ian Banks, president of mens health forum, ” when you exercise very hard you increase the amount of steroids in your body. They are mainly steroid hormones and steroids are a very potent decreaser of the immune responses.”
As banks puts it ” If you over-exercise, you create inlammation in the body, in the joints and tendons. The body is reacing naturally – it produces its own steroids to reduce the amount of damage from excessive exercise”
Its clear too much exercise can be counter productive. To protect myself from further infection I have decided to suspend my runs this week.
Germs to avoid
According to the article “thre does appear to be a reduction in your ability to resist infection for a couple of hours after a heavy training session,” Avoid germ rich environments such as buses or trains, and small children with runny noses during those crucial two hours of post-exercise.
Filed under: running
