Physical activity strengthens your immune system
“Regular physical activity can contribute to a more effective immune response,” Ezzatvar says. “It can provide enhanced immunity to [many] infections, not only COVID.”
The paper does not provide proof that exercise is causing these effects—only that it’s linked to better COVID-19 outcomes. There could be other explanations for the trends, such as differences in lifestyle, viral exposure, and socioeconomic status between active and sedentary people. Most of the included studies were also published well before Omicron became dominant and when most people were not vaccinated, so it’s difficult to generalize the findings to the present.
One other potential caveat: if you happen to be exercising next to someone who already has COVID-19, your workout routine may not save you from getting sick.published in May found that someone doing high-intensity exercise emits about 132 times as many aerosols per minute as they do at rest—which is bad news if your treadmill neighbor happens to have the virus.
Still, exercise is “100%” recommended for most people, Ezzatvar says. “It is good for your health—not only for COVID [protection], but also