The gym goers survival guide to the cold and flu season

Hard training will suppress your immune system, leaving you susceptible to opportunistic infections. These tips will help you prevent illness, or come back more quickly if you do get sick.

Prevention

Unless you live in a bubble, you will to be exposed to infections. Minimising the risk of contracting them is the name of the game. Hard training sessions suppress your immune system for a period of 3 to 72 hours. This period of impaired immunity is known as the “open window.” Being hyper-vigilant with prevention techniques during this “open window” period is advised. In other words, avoid going to big department stores or babysitting your runny-nosed nieces after a long hard ride.

Immunonutritional Support

Several nutritional supplements and strategies have been shown to bolster immunity:

• Carbohydrates

Bonking during training is bad news for your immune system. Ensuring adequate carbohydrate fueling during and after heavy or prolonged exertion helps dampen immune inflammatory responses and counteract exercise-induced immune dysfunction. In short, carb up to stay resilient.

• Quercetin

Quercetin supplementation of 1,000 mg/day reduces illness rates in exercise-stressed athletes. Combining quercetin supplementation with green tea extract and fish oil can further augment immune function and reduce the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections in athletes.

• Probiotics

Lactobacillus probiotics can augment some aspects of immune function and reduce illness rates in exercise-stressed athletes.

Recovering from an Illness

Stop training and take a day off from all activity other than gentle stretching if you have any below-the-neck symptoms. These include a very sore throat, fever, fluid in your lungs, coughing, body chills and aches, exhaustion, diarrhea or vomiting.

While you are sick, rest, drink plenty of hot fluids, and seek comfort from over-the-counter cold remedies. The vast majority of colds derive from a virus, so taking antibiotics is rarely helpful. Antibiotics will weaken your immune system further by destroying bacteria—both good and bad—in your gut, where a portion of your immune system resides. If your illness symptoms deteriorate rapidly or continue for more than three days, consult your physician.

Returning to Training Following an Illness

Here are some guidelines for getting back on track after being sick:

• Wait one day after below-the-neck symptoms have resolved before resuming any training.

• After that, resume training with a day consisting of one recovery-paced session.

• Continue training at a recovery pace until all above-the-neck symptoms disappear.

• Stop training and return to rest if any below-the-neck symptoms return.

• If you were sick for three days or less, resume your training plan after your one “wait day” plus one recovery day.

• If you were sick for more than three days, resume training with one “wait day” and two or more recovery days. After two or more successful recovery days, gradually ramp up your duration first, then intensity, to full training loads over the course of four to seven days.

So there you have it. Avoid the bugs at all costs, rest when you do get sick, and come back to full training gradually. It all sounds like the stuff your mom told you to do when you were eight years old, right?