Our Editors independently research, test, and rate what we feel are the best products. We use affiliate links and may receive a small commission on purchases.
Our immune system is one of the most important functions of our bodies. It protects us from disease caused by bacteria and viruses; it helps eliminate unwanted cells, harmful substances, and foreign bodies from our system.
The immune system is comprised of an array of organs, cells, and proteins, and all must be working cohesively to operate at optimal levels.
To ensure yours doesn’t fail you, you must constantly be working to keep it in good shape. Studies show that moderate exercise can boost your immune system and we have the best workouts to do so right here.
1. Strength Training
Strength training has always been amazing for the body but has exploded in popularity in recent decades. Many people begin strength training due to the unarguable benefits it offers when it comes to enhancing visual aesthetics.
However, it can also boost the body’s overall strength and stamina, which carries over to many other areas of our lives.
When we subject our working muscles to new stressors, the muscle tissues will end up with tiny tears as a result. That may sound dangerous, but these microscopic tears are anything but.
In fact, as the body works to repair them, your muscles will naturally adapt to be in better shape the next time this stressor comes around. The result is added strength and increased muscle tone.
There’s a common misconception that you need a ton of weight to see results. This isn’t true at all! Get yourself a pair of adjustable dumbbells so you can start at a lower amount of weight and work your way up so your body is constantly progressing. Better yet, get a full home gym to do a complete body workout!
For the lower body, try squats! Even body weight squats performed until failure offers a near-identical immune response to that seen with intense endurance exercise, with a lower mean oxygen consumption.
2. Walking and Hiking
Walking is the most accessible form of exercise for most of us. Whether you’re walking around in your neighborhood, around the local track, or hiking up a hill or mountain, you’ll reap some nice benefits here.
Studies show that walking at least 30 minutes a day increases the quantity of leukocytes in our bodies, which help fight off infections and viruses in our bodies. No matter what kind of shape you’re in, walking is likely feasible for you.
However, if you are looking to amp the intensity up, hiking can add a bit of incline and resistance, which is known to boost our mood and reduce stress hormones which also can put us at a greater risk of disease.
Whether you’re walking in the morning, on your lunch break, or after dinner, it can put you on track for a more productive day, in a better mood. If you have a small child, bring them along!
The extra weight will give you an extra workout and you can spend some time with them in nature. There are specialized hiking baby carriers for this purpose.
If you’d like to ramp up the intensity and calorie-burning, why not try a weighted vest? These are designed to challenge your body more for even quicker results. They usually come with slots for you to add or subtract weight, depending on your current fitness and comfort level.
3. Cycling
Cycling is one of the most popular forms of exercise, despite there being so many other alternatives today. You can use a bike to get from point A to point B or you can simply do it for pleasure.
No matter what your motives are, you’ll be able to benefit from a strengthened immune system. Just be sure to wear a cycling helmet!
Breathing fresh air and soaking up vitamin D is never a bad thing. Moreover, cycling incorporates every main muscle group of the body to improve mobility and calorie burning.
Regularly cycling can also help you maintain a healthy weight. Those with a healthy body weight are at lower risk for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and countless other diseases and conditions.
If you find that the weather isn’t great or you just don’t access to a safe biking spot, you can always use your bike with a bike trainer! These handy devices let you ride your bike in place indoors, all without damaging your flooring or décor.
An alternative, if you have young kids they probably have a scooter. Why not ride along with them? A kick scooter is a great way to have a fun workout and spend time with your kids!
4. Yoga
Connect with spiritual side while improving balance, flexibility, and mind-body connection with yoga. Placing a large focus on meditation and breathing control, it’s likely you’ll experience rapid lymph movement.
This function is vital for our lymphatic systems, which help break down waste, produce antibodies and additional lymphatic cells. Both have also been shown to reduce stress, which protects us against disease and infection.
Yoga can be used on its own, but it’s also the perfect complementary form of exercise to any of the others on this guide. It can be used as a great way to wake up the body gently in the morning, as well as cool it down and relax before bedtime.
Just make sure that you’re wearing clothing that allows you to move without restriction, like these sweatpants do.
In addition, having a high-quality yoga mat and bolster can really improve your user experience. Yoga is quite uncomfortable without one and shouldn’t be done on carpet or a rug either as it can begin to grow bacteria and foul odors over time.
5. HIIT
High-Intensity Interval Training (also known as HIIT) involves performing an exercise as intensely as you can, for a specific amount of time (usually anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds) and then resting for that same length of time.
It is more strenuous and exhausting, but you get large benefits and only have to work out for 15 to 20 minutes. For this reason, we wouldn’t recommend it if you’re just starting to work out or getting back into the swing of things.
This high intensity allows your body to keep using up calories for hours after your workout, which is great if you’re trying to improve your body composition. Spin bikes and recumbent bikes are ideal for HIIT training.
Summary
Now that you’ve had the chance to browse through each of the best workouts for building your immune system, which one are you going to start working into your lifestyle? You could even choose a couple of different ones or rotate between them for maximum benefits and versatility.
No matter which you select, you can feel confident knowing your immune system is getting stronger each day. Thanks for joining us and happy sweating!
Notice:
BestWomensWorkouts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. BestWomensWorkouts earns fees from products sold through qualifying purchases by linking to Amazon.com. Amazon offers a commission on products sold through their affiliate links.
