Does exercise diminsh your immune system?

I started surfskiing about 8 moths ago after a decade of no exercise. It has been fantastic and I have lost weight and got quite fit.

However I keep getting colds. In fact I have had 3 colds in the last four months alone.

My latest came after after I had three fantastic days downwind paddling on Lake Macquarie (North of Sydney).

It got me thinking whether the stress of getting fit actually reduces your immunity. Looking at my Garmin I've certainly done some good work over the last 8 months paddling well over a thousand kms.

I spoke to a friend who is an elite distance runner and he said that the harder he trains the more colds he gets. He said many of his running peers were constantly sick from being run down.

Has anyone else encountered this, and is there a way to keep the pressure up on getting fit without getting sick. (By the way, I'm a 46 yr old male, no smoking, very light drinker, good sleeper)

I would suggest you go see a naturopath and get your diet checked out. I am married to one so know the benefits that can be gained from a reasonable diet and a few supplements.

I am not a sports medicine expert, however there is a clear link between pushing your body and immunity.

Not allowing sufficient recovery is defined as overtraining and as you get older the recovery time is longer. You may not be allowing yourself enough recovery time.

Yes training can suppress the immune system, something that people often forget when training is that it is not how hard or the amount of training you do each workout that results in improvement, its how much training you can recover from before the next session that counts, if your not fully recovered before your next session a certain percentage of your last session is wasted, its during the recovery that your body adapts to the training stress and improves.

Perhaps you need to look at what you are doing with your training, the intensity and how much at each intensity, a well rounded programme with a good mix of intensity's will help to keep you healthy, along with planned rest and recovery periods and unplanned rest and recovery periods if required, listen to your body and don't do the same thing day after day or week after week, periodise your program, build up and recover, your body adapts and you improve without getting sick, you maintain enthusiasm and don't burn out.

Hi Love2Ski, similar story, same age. Too keen too soon, over trained (60-80km ocean paddling per week), lost weight but didn't get sick. With the weight loss, get colder quicker, purchase some good quality clothing. I find I eat more to keep up the energy levels. As people have mentioned, get some professional guidance, you may only need to change a few things. I know when I'm run down, so I skip a few training sessions or races and find I'm not going backwards.

Agree with the diet suggestion (although you'll get a lot of suggestions as to what is the best diet).

I tend to stick to a mediterranean type diet and train most days (either run, paddle, cycle or swim) and can't remember the last time I was sick.

As an extreme example there's a couple in their 60s currently halfway through a run around Australia doing a marathon each day on a raw vegan diet.

I couldn't eat a raw vegan.

Surprisingly, I actually wholeheartedly agree with Kayaker Greg. Great advice, vary intensities and listen to your body not your ego, or your mates, as they will probably call you a Pussy.

Go hard to very hard only 2-3 times per week and spread them out at intervals, as in weight training, maybe Tues, Thurs, Sat. BUT ...if, as happens to me some weeks, I don't feel good at all for the whole week, or when I'd planned to go hard, then just do what you can, modify and moderate. Some weeks (I hate it), but I feel like I'm going through the motions for the whole week, while I listen to my body, while waiting for it to feel good, or fairly good, at the least.

Either go the same distance as a normal session but very easy, or maybe half the distance at a moderate pace. If you feel you must go hard, don't. But if you must, then only spend 15-20 mins in the water. Maybe 7 mins warm up, 6 firm, 7 easy, get out, go for coffee, after a stretch. Or do some, (very few), sprints of 15-30 seconds and float in between. Put a positive spin on these sessions and do some technique work.

Be proud of the fact that you have the guts to rest and recover. It will pay off, you won't lose fitness and you will stay in love with paddling which is what it is all about, after all. And you might just stop yourself getting glandular fever, like me. Or worse.

Agree with KG as well.

Back to diet however, seems the most important time to eat healthy is directly after exercise as this assists with recovery. Best to layoff the coffee, alcohol, sugary treats etc at these times and refuel with good food

grasshopper wrote: Best to layoff the coffee,

That is bordering heresy I consider this to be one of the great pleasures in life, and life is simply too short to try to be totally pure all the time. Even if I was a gold medal contender (highly unlikely at my age) I'd have to draw the line here.

For what it's worth, since I started paddling, the frequency with which I get sick (ie flu/colds) dropped dramatically.

However, although I'm (usually, not so much at the moment because of injury and lack of training) fit, I seldom go nuts on training.

As others have said, hectic training I believe can make you chronically tired and reduce your immunity - but I strongly believe (given my own sample of one!) that moderate training and being paddling-fit increases my immunity.

Agree with you Owen, I enjoy an occasional coffee and a beer or 10 but after a hard session I try to avoid these and try to get something healthy down for recovery.
Of course it's a bit difficult to do this after a race as it's one of life's joys to sit back with a beer and relax with your mates after a hard race.

I figure as long as I do the right thing most of the time!

Qi - Look it up. Anything you do whether it is your taxes or paddling it will take a toll on your body. When you wear yourself out you open yourself up for things to attack you.

The want is to slowly build up your conditioning so that your energy flow is greater then it was. This is a combination of pushing yourself, eating, eating good stuff, allowing the body to recover and build.

You cannot be a great athlete overnight. It is a building process. I like to think each person has their own level of Qi. It is not about getting more energy but making more efficient use of energy.

I find that when the joy leaves you. You are doing something wrong or overdoing it and you need to change up.

Look up periodisation on the net. You will be much less likely to get sick if you give the body a break every so often, and I'm not talking about stopping, just reduced intensity for a week or two every couple of months.

It takes a lot of self discipline and I absolutely hate it, but each time I return to the higher intensity training I feel much better for it and I'm surprised that I haven't lost much if any fitness and see bigger improvements within the few weeks of recommencing the higher intensity training.