How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System • Hacker News Board

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#81

Post by amorphous » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:34 PM UTC

kristerv wrote: post #65

WillPostForFood wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the theory behind the cold shower?

for me it wakes me the f up. It's strong like having drunk coffee or something. Results may vary of course, but works wonders for me and my focus during the day. I know of an old woman who's beed ice-cold bucketing for years and looks great and hasn't been sick in a long time. Does this with -20C outside too. Yet I find I may get sick easier if it's too cold outside and I go all out freezing shower.

I still do cold showers, but just finishing with cold water for a short interval, 20 seconds or so. That seems to be entirely beneficial (I don't remember were I read it but there's some other cold shower expert recommending not going longer than that)

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#82

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:36 PM UTC

knice wrote: post #12

jerf wrote: post #9

I gotta stash this one away. I often refer to the disaster of 20th century health science as scientists repeatedly gathering a single point of data and then drawing a line (or hyperplane) though it, but this is a great article clearly demonstrating an example of that, and how plausible it all seemed at the time. (Not that it's a trend limited to the 20th century. But it seems to me to have been extremely bad in the h…

I imagine the 20th century was the worst time for it because we had more sophisticated data collection and analysis methods, but failed to recognize our own inadequacies when using those tools to draw conclusions. Kind of like social media algorithms today.

[deleted]

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#83

Post by crististm » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:37 PM UTC

WillPostForFood wrote: post #58

crististm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a high correlation between insufficient sleep and catching cold. It kind of made sense but I've looked it up and found several studies supporting this. This winter I've tried only cold showers after running outside. Cold showers as in (sometimes) my neck hurt if I did it too long. Did not catch a cold until this spring and I think this is more correlated to insufficient rest/sleep (on top of exercising) than…

What’s the theory behind the cold shower?

One theory is that it is supposed to reduce tissue inflammation.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#84

Post by chrisfosterelli » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:38 PM UTC

mrfusion wrote: post #66

sternocleidom wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Running is probably the worst sport as far as caloric expenditure is concerned. A serious endurance cyclist or swimmer will certainly go through 3000 kcal on a normal training day if not more. I've burned an estimated 5000kcal daily on the bike for weeks. What's more is I know these numbers are very accurate as we train with power meters that record our energy expenditure with minimal error. It's important to disting…

Why do you think cycling would burn more calories than jogging?

They are actually much more similar than most people realize. However, people usually burn more calories total on cycling because it's easier to put longer time periods into cycling than it is for running.

Put another way, an average cyclist will find a 2 hour bike ride to be an average ride but an average runner will consider a 2 hour run to be quite long.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#85

Post by ksk » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:40 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #68

mrfusion wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think cycling would burn more calories than jogging?

Jogging is very efficient, mechanically speaking. You're not going to burn a lot of calories per hour.

Depends on how you look at it. I can bike all day without getting tired, but there's no way I can jog all day. If your definition of efficiency includes duration of effort, or distance covered, then cycling is very efficient.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#86

Post by mikevm » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:41 PM UTC

ptero wrote: post #21

mkirklions wrote: post #5

This article doesnt make mention of my workout where I lift something heavy 1 time. I had the idea that I wanted to reduce time in the gym, so I used the potential energy equation PE= M g h I'm not getting any taller, so the only thing I could change was either the reps or mass of weight moved. I made it my goal to lift heavy weights so I'd only need to deadlift 1 time and be able to pig out. TBH, it works, I lose 1…

As others said, your exercise does not burn enough calories to impact weight loss / gain. I suspect your weight loss may be due to the exercise affecting your eating patterns (if you eat high calorie food before going to bed you will likely gain more weight than if you get same calories in a sweet drink right after a long ski race; not sure why).

> if you eat high calorie food before going to bed you will likely gain more weight than if you get same calories in a sweet drink right after a long ski race; not sure why

I don't think that's right. Eating a hypercaloric diet will likely gain you more weight, and hypocaloric will result in weight loss. It doesn't matter when you eat the food. Eating carbs or protein right after a workout is the subject of the nutrient timing, which is largely moot for protein (as long as you get enough during the 24 hours), and only important for carbs if you are an endurance athlete or have multiple workouts per day.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#87

Post by smnplk » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:41 PM UTC

flcknzwrg wrote: post #17

mkirklions wrote: post #5

This article doesnt make mention of my workout where I lift something heavy 1 time. I had the idea that I wanted to reduce time in the gym, so I used the potential energy equation PE= M g h I'm not getting any taller, so the only thing I could change was either the reps or mass of weight moved. I made it my goal to lift heavy weights so I'd only need to deadlift 1 time and be able to pig out. TBH, it works, I lose 1…

Found the fatty ;) Ok, seriously.... math: if you eat 3000 kcal per day and lose 1 lb per week, you're burning 3500 kcal per day. This is quite a lot. It's near impossible unless you work out a lot and are veeeery muscular... or are impossibly tall... or, well, fat. (Or a combination of those.) Take me for comparison: I am 187cm (6'1ish) tall and weigh 75kg (165 lbs), pretty much smack in the middle of the "normal we…

3500 kcal per day is nothing. One can have a basal resting metabolic rate of 2500 kcal, then do some sports and you get 3500 easily. And you seem to be a bit underweight, go build some more muscle. 75kg is featherweight for that height ;)

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#88

Post by marban » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:43 PM UTC

matthewwiese wrote: post #64

marban wrote: post #54

I've been running for twenty years and am currently on a half-year streak with around 15km / day. In all those years I've been sick for about two weeks all in all. Before working out, that was like the average over half a year. Conclusion: Figure out what works for you, have a daily routine, add a bit of obsession and stop reading stories about the pros and cons of exercising.

Same with me during my peak running period last year; even when I was feeling ill or off, a run, albeit grueling at the time, always seemed to aid in my recovery (if only for the placebo of getting myself out of bed). I really need to start doing it on the regular again...

True that. All those pace yourself arguments are usually coming from those who're just trying to justify their own laziness. Fact is, if you want to increase or even keep your performance those two days/w a 30min followed by a protein shake won't change anything other than making you fat because you think you just burned two pizzas.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#89

Post by graeme » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:43 PM UTC

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #71

mrfusion wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does it feel like as it starts getting higher?

I don't know, but I'd love to see some study on the impact of CO2 levels on the measures we typical care about regarding meetings: levels of alertness, qualities of social interaction, decision-making speed/quality, etc.

Harvard published an interesting one a few years ago. Having trouble tracking down the link on mobile, but here's an overview:

https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-elevated-co2-levels-dire...

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#90

Post by jmcphers » Fri, May 04, 2018, 4:45 PM UTC

Anecdotally my own experience matches that of the rodents in the experiment. I've found that when I'm getting regular strenuous exercise (I bike up a steep hill as part of my commute) I almost never get sick, and can go > 1 year without so much as a sore throat. Conversely, when I'm more sedentary for months at a go, I'm more likely to become ill.