Benefits of Exercise - Allergies

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I'd like to start taking a look at some of the benefits of exercising regularly. There are a whole host of ways that getting fit can improve your life that many people are completely unaware of. First, let's see how implementing a fitness program can potentially affect allergy symptoms.

It should be understood that this will not necessarily be for all people in all circumstances. In fact, there are some people who may be susceptible to allergic reactions to exercise due to things such as increase in body temperature and other hormones which may present as an allergic reaction. So, while many people may find that exercise helps to alleviate some of the affects of allergies, there are some people who actually may be "allergic to exercise."

That said, for the larger population of people, regular exercise has been shown to reduce the symptoms of seasonal allergies. There is not a lot of data explaining why that might be, but there is some information out there that seems like it makes a good deal of sense.

Perhaps the largest contributing factor for this phenomenon is the fact that regular exercise improves cardio-vascular health. What typically happens with allergy sufferers is that the immune system tends to overreact to allergens. Because many of the seasonal allergens enter the body through the thin membranes of the sinuses, that is the most common attack vector. As those allergens enter the blood stream through the sinus membranes, inflammation occurs as the immune system attempts to attack the intruders which are largely located in this one area.

When you exercise regularly, you improve the efficiency of your cardio-vascular system, you improve blood flow which helps to flush out these allergens rather than leaving them all in the same area to irritate it and cause all the antibodies to go to that location. Better blood flow washes the area out and disperses the allergens in a sort of "divide and conquer" scenario. So, they are not statically located in the sinuses causing inflammation.

There is also the fact that regular exercise is known to improve your immune system in general. So, not only does your body not have to fight intruders in a small, enclosed area, but when it does attack these intruders, it kills the invaders more quickly and with less effort, allowing your body to stay more in a state of overall health. If your preferred method of exercise is jogging or some other outdoor activity, the hidden benefit there is the fact that you'll be out in the sun, drinking in all of the sunlight that will help to increase your Vitamin D, which further enhances your immune system.

Finally, regardless of any specific benefit that is explicitly quantifiable, realize that the healthier and stronger you are in general, the better chance your body is going to be functioning the way it is supposed to. Health begets health, as it were. 

All that said, unless you are in that very rare category of people who actually have an allergic reaction to exercise (and that does not mean those of you would will find any excuse to count yourself among that number), there is simply no downside to becoming more fit and healthy. 

You owe it to yourself to become healthier and stronger. You deserve to live a life where you can move around in the world with efficiency and reduced chance of injury. Visit my training site at https://danielcarrington.issacertifiedtrainer.com/ and connect with me to get started.