Walk/run is better than run/run for boosting immunity
Intermittent running is better for your immune system
WHILE AEROBIC EXERCISE can strengthen the immune system, there’s evidence to suggest that long, hard runs can have the opposite effect. Luckily, there is an immunity-boosting alternative: the walk/run. Exercise physiologist David Nieman has been studying the links between exercise and immunity for 40 years and has consistently found that intermittent running does not stress the immune system in the same way as a nonstop run. Interestingly, even 10 minutes’ hard running, followed by 10 minutes of easy running was found to be easier on the immune system than, say, a long marathon-pace session. ‘When you do a back-and-forth kind of running, your body seems to react in a favourable way, like you’ve just been out for a walk,’ notes Nieman.