How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System • Hacker News Board

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#131

Post by orbitur » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:06 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...

Prior to my knee injury I was a happy runner, and I definitely found that just going for longer than 15 minutes would completely clear out my nose if I was at the congestion stage of a cold.

Of course, my nose would be congested again a few hours later, but it was still a decent motivator since I hate taking medicine.

Wish my knee would stop being shitty.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#132

Post by matwood » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:11 PM UTC

mkirklions wrote: post #120

jumpmancw wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually very bad advice, do not do this. All of the literature will plainly tell you this is a bad idea.

After doing strength training for years, it is all part of the routine. You cannot do 5x5 deadlift sets once you are past 4 plates.

Sure you can, it's just that progress goes much slower. When I finally got into the 500s I was counting 1/2 and 1/4 reps as progress. For example, if I got 525 for 3-1/4 reps for one workout, and later got 3-1/2 reps, that was progress. Keep in mind for me that later could be weeks or months as I'm not naturally big.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#133

Post by amvalo » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:16 PM UTC

nimbius wrote: post #40

As a machinist and building maintenance engineer, I can almost guarantee any ill feeling you're experiencing after a trip to your local gym is due to the air quality. Gyms are rarely purpose built facilities. Rather, theyre rented and renovated spaces. In turn, airflow in the structure is planned for light industrial or office space. Almost no thought goes into the fact that gyms are sometimes hundreds of occupants m…

This is the kind of information I can only find on HN :)

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#134

Post by riku_iki » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:22 PM UTC

smnplk wrote: post #93

sp332 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You need to put more effort in 1 hour cycling session to burn the same amount of calories as in 1 hour running session. Running activates more muscles.

But cycling affects largest human muscles, which work more intensively..

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#135

Post by tkahnoski » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:24 PM UTC

graeme wrote: post #92

the_cat_kittles wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have a pet fascination with air quality- not in any real sense, but im always just wondering about it, since its so varied and virtually invisible. are there any simple small tools you know of that are good at get information about air quality. the only thing i see people sometimes use is a particulate meter that tells them the concentration of particulate matter of various sizes. seems like it would be cool to hav…

You can get CO2 meters quite easily on amazon. They sell them as a commodity for greenhouses measurement. For particulates, the Laseregg is the best I've found. Apparently the laseregg 2+ measures VOC, but I'm not sure about that. From what I heard there are no VOC meters available at a consumer level. CO2 is the best proxy, because high CO2 means low ventilation, which prevents venting of VOCs.

What do you do with the air measurements? Are there things you can do to improve air quality?

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#136

Post by scott_s » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:28 PM UTC

amorphous wrote: post #26

I have one rule: I only ever do sports if I have rested well the night before. It took me until I reached my 40s to realise that lack of sleep + heavy exercise = high chance of catching a cold. Other sure ways how I can get sick: overdo sauna after exercising and, by far the worst, overdoing cold showers (Jim Hoff anyone? - I got seriously sick experimenting with that) I guess the overall strength of my immune system…

What you're saying is what the results discussed in the article are arguing against.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#137

Post by scott_s » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

ekr wrote: post #13

My personal experience with long (100miles+) cross-country mtb riding (with lots of climbing) is that in fact, catching a cold after such a strenuous ride is way more common than the base rate. This is also the experience reported by most professional cyclists (check TdF reports). My under-researched model of how this happens, is that there is a lot of tear-and-wear in the muscles where the effort is happening, which…

Perhaps you're mistaken? The results discussed in the article claim the opposite, and point out:

"Their first conclusion was that athletes are lousy at identifying whether and why they are sniffling. The original 1980s studies had relied on runners’ self-reports of illness. But newer experiments that actually tested saliva showed that less than a third of marathon runners who thought they had caught a cold actually had. Statistically, their odds of becoming sick were about the same as for anyone else in the race’s host city.

The athletes probably had misinterpreted allergies or short-term scratchiness in their airways after the race as a cold, says John Campbell, a professor at the University of Bath who was a co-author of the new review."

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#138

Post by mikestew » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:39 PM UTC

sternocleidom wrote: post #39

flcknzwrg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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…

Running is probably the worst sport as far as caloric expenditure is concerned.

Yes, running is extremely inefficient. The most efficient form of movement known is a human on a bicycle. One's choice depends on whether the goal is to burn calories, or travel efficiently.

I've burned an estimated 5000kcal daily on the bike for weeks.

Wait a minute, what? You're going to take the most efficient form of locomotion and use that as an example of how to burn calories? The only reason you burned that many calories is because you spent all day on the bike. Maybe I'm completely missing your point, but for time spent, running burns more calories.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#139

Post by graeme » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:53 PM UTC

tkahnoski wrote: post #135

graeme wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get CO2 meters quite easily on amazon. They sell them as a commodity for greenhouses measurement. For particulates, the Laseregg is the best I've found. Apparently the laseregg 2+ measures VOC, but I'm not sure about that. From what I heard there are no VOC meters available at a consumer level. CO2 is the best proxy, because high CO2 means low ventilation, which prevents venting of VOCs.

What do you do with the air measurements? Are there things you can do to improve air quality?

I changed a few things as a result:

* I am far more diligent about opening a window at my home and office. In winter I may open one a crack.

* I leave my bedroom door open at night

* I noticed I was getting extremely high AQI index readings when cooking. I was frying things in a pan after previously cooking something else in the same meal (meat, then sweet potatoes). I now wash in between, use coconut oil (less AQI readings) and am more diligent about opening the kitchen door if the AQU gets high

It's kind of like measuring weight. Once you have it stable, you don't really need to do anything. But, keeping the readings alerts you if something ever goes off track.

Also very useful to see that even openings in windows could make large and immediate differences.

Re: How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System

#140

Post by sternocleidom » Fri, May 04, 2018, 6:54 PM UTC

WoodenChair wrote: post #103

sternocleidom wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a PhD from a top institution, so I'm all for science. But the science on this matter is misleading to people who aren't experts in the field, so I don't blame you for calling me out. Let me try to explain why there is no contradiction, and why the science here can't be relied upon across the board. First, my anecdata pertain to athletes who are competitive on a national or regional level - Olympic Trials quali…

> I have a PhD from a top institution I'm sorry but any comment that starts out "I have a PhD from a top institution" reeks of Appeal to Authority: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority Then you appeal to science without actually citing any science, but yet more anecdotal data and thoughts from your own mind. Your arguments are just not very strong because they're all coming from your own experience a…

I cited my scientific qualifications to demonstrate that I am uniquely positioned to assess the quality and scope of the scientific research we are discussing and - crucially - the interpretations thereof.

Most on HN lack the background knowledge and training to usefully interpret a review article like this, let alone a journalistic simplification. Yes, I cite "thoughts from my own mind", a mind which has spent years researching this theme.

You're wondering why I don't cite any articles contradicting the claims of the review article? That's because this paper already cites many published peer-reviewed works, only to dismiss their findings. You'd know this if you actually read the paper and had the background and training to properly interpret it!

It's an interesting review. The main idea of the paper is that we shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly when thinking that strenuous exercise can increase risk of short-term illness. The authors point out some logical and mechanistic fallacies of past studies.

I take issue with the interpretation that most people will have after reading - that strenuous exercise will not increase risk of getting sick. I know firsthand that this is not the case in truly elite athletes. But, for many people this may be true. It's important to be specific however, when discussing scientific matters, which is why I contributed my thoughts