The immune boost of regular running

Going out for a run - or doing any form of aerobic exercise - gets the blood pumping, increasing your circulation and mobilising your body’s immune cells. Essentially, it steps up your immune system’s activity levels, improving your response time to viral and bacterial infections and increasing your body’s production of antibodies. The upshot is that your body becomes capable of detecting and neutralising infections more quickly. 

At the same time, running can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body - which is great news for people living with chronic inflammation that can weaken the immune system. When you undertake a routine of moderate exercise, your muscles release anti-inflammatory cytokines that are vital to a healthy immune system. As a result, many studies have shown that people who consistently engage in moderate exercise like running are less prone to minor illnesses like colds, and are better primed for recovery when they do become ill. 

It’s important to remember that going for an occasional, infrequent run isn’t going to revolutionise your immune system. The key to effectively boosting your immune system is adhering to a consistent schedule of running several times a week, which will have a cumulative positive impact on your immune system, continually keeping your immune system in a more robust and responsive state.

However, it’s equally important not to exercise excessively beyond your ability and comfort levels. Overtraining and cutting out your all-important recovery periods can actually have a negative effect on your immune system, leaving you more prone to infection. Where moderate exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body, excessive exercise has a pro-inflammatory effect that suppresses the effectiveness of your immune system. The key is to pay attention to your body and ensure that you are getting adequate rest between runs - especially if you are noticing any persistent soreness or pain.

parkrun can be an excellent way to incorporate regular, moderate exercise into your routine with weekly 5k runs that, over time, will have a positive effect on your immune system. As we move into the cooler months, however, there are a few things you can do to help maximise the benefits of regular running.

Your immune system isn’t just impacted by your fitness levels - mood and mental health can also be very important factors in how your immune system functions. Getting out in nature and running are both established ways of improving your mental health, releasing endorphins and serotonin that can lift your mood and clear your mind. This can be all the more important towards the end of the year, as the days get shorter and sunlight becomes increasingly scarce.

parkrunners in particular will also benefit from the social aspect of running with others, which can help to foster a sense of community that provides motivation and ongoing encouragement. As a result, parkrun not only delivers a mental health benefit from the exercise itself, but from the camaraderie of exercising with a group of people who can offer mutual support and enjoy each other’s company.

As you can see the health benefits of running go beyond simply improving your fitness and mental health - a regular running regime can actually help protect you against future illness and fight off infection. As a result, you can rest assured that whether you do your running at parkrun or at your local park, you’re investing your time improving almost every aspect of your wellbeing.