“The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well”

- Hippocrates

It is no secret that the topic of immunity is something we have all been interested in the past couple years. What’s the best way to stay healthy and free of disease and sickness? Is there a quick fix? What pill can we take, or treatment can we receive, to stay well?

It starts with building the foundation of our health, and focusing on optimizing the way our bodies function. A shift in mindset needs to occur. One that promotes doing everything possible to prevent illness through lifestyle interventions, then relying on traditional medicine, prescriptions, and procedures when absolutely needed. Widely regarded as the father of medicine, Hippocrates stated in the quote above that our bodies all contain the natural capacity to stay well, with the added caveat that they are given the opportunity, proper tools, and methods to thrive in our modern way of living.

That being said, the goal of this article is not to provide you with a quick fix solution to staying free of illness for the rest of your life. The healthiest of people who eat well, sleep enough, and exercise regularly may get sick from time to time, but I can almost guarantee you that they will recover faster and get back to their daily life quicker than those who eat the standard American diet of fast and processed foods, sleep five hours per night, and are sedentary most of the day.

The goal of this article is to create awareness of practical lifestyle strategies, which I have ranked in order of importance, that you can use to optimize your health and keep your immune system strong so you can stay free of illness, or at worst, recover much faster from it and get on with your life.

Tip #1: Regular Exercise

Muscles have a variety of functions, the most important of which is to create movement. Believe it or not, your body was built to move and to be active. Muscles do not exist in your body just for show or aesthetics, as the fitness industry would have you believe. This is another common misnomer and a mindset that needs to change. When you start seeing exercise as a way to keep yourself healthy and resilient to stress, instead of an avenue to look like a TV fitness model, it will become much more satisfying and easier to make it a part of your lifestyle.

It should be no surprise that exercising regularly, whether through resistance training, cardiovascular training, or a combination of the two, has a massive immune system boosting effect (1, 2), as long as it is not overdone and sufficient rest and recovery is provided afterwards. As a former Ironman-distance triathlete, let me tell you that there is indeed a point of diminishing returns to intense exercise where the body can succumb to the effects of intense training and be in a constant state of breakdown and injury. Most people do not need this type of training, unless it is used to achieve a very specific athletic or body composition goal.

In order to use regular exercise to boost your immune system, there must be balance. You need to push your body hard enough to create a stress response, then allow your body to recover optimally through proper sleep, hydration, nutrition, and light-intensity physical activity.

So, what is the best way to create an exercise routine? The fact of the matter is that the best way depends on things such as your work and personal schedule, your age, previous training experience, previous injuries or medical conditions, muscle and joint range of motion or mobility limitations, facilities and equipment you have available to you, your support system, and many other variables. There are many programs and routines out there, but there is no perfect exercise program or routine. There is only the best way to create a routine based on your current circumstances.

The variables I’ve listed above are constantly changing, and the routine often needs constant adjustments. If a fitness “professional” tries to sell a “perfect” or “best” routine to a large audience, they are misleading because they most likely do not know the audience and all the details of the aforementioned variables. This is why I got into personal training. I like to know the details of where my clients are coming from so I can meet them where they’re at. But I digress.

What I can do for you, my readers, is to provide you with some ideas to get you started on an exercise program or help you change things up if your current routine is getting stagnant.

Here are some different scenarios you may want to explore to optimize your exercise routine. In the following bullet points, I refer to weight training as resistance training, and cardio training as conditioning:

• Conditioning-Only Approach: 3-5x per week. Choose a cardio machine (e.g. bike, rower, elliptical, treadmill, etc.) or outdoor method and maintain your heart rate for a total of 30 minutes (whether constant or interspersed with rest) above 60% of your max heart rate. Find your max heart rate by using this formula…220-age = max heart rate. If using the elliptical, opt for uphill walking instead of running if you have not had formal running technique training or if you’re not confident in your running abilities.

• Resistance Training-Only Approach: 3-4x per week. If doing 3x, do a total body circuit of exercises (i.e. lower body, upper body, and core) every day. Opt for 6-10 exercises (as close to evenly split between body regions), 12-20 reps of each exercise at a light to moderate weight (your muscles should be burning and shaking slightly, but you should not go to failure), and 2-5 rounds of your circuit. If doing 4x, do two days of upper body and core, and two days of lower body and core using the same rep and set guidelines as above. If you need help with exercise selection, go to my YouTube page and you will find hundreds of exercise video demonstrations organized into various playlists. The ‘program’ playlists are public and contain a variety of different exercises as well.

• Mixed-Modality Approach (i.e. Resistance and Conditioning): 4-5x per week. If doing 4x, do a total body resistance training workout days one and three, and conditioning days two and four, following the same guidelines above. If doing 5x, do total body resistance training days one, three, and five, and conditioning days two and four, following the same guidelines above.

• Structured Program: 3x per week. If you’d like to try a structured program, already laid out for you, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, give my HomeFit Program a try to see if it will work for you. It is four weeks in length, and designed to be repeated if starting at the beginner level, so you can easily have your next three months of training already set for you! All you have to do is put in the work. Minimal equipment is required and it can be done anywhere. As I stated before, there are many variables that are involved in making an exercise program effective, but if you’re just starting out, being consistent with any structured program will get you positive results.

• Special Needs: If you have had previous musculoskeletal or joint surgeries, major movement or range of motion restrictions, or diagnosed medical conditions I highly recommend that you speak to your physician to get cleared for exercise first, then seek the assistance of a qualified fitness professional who has experience working with special populations or in a rehab setting. Work with them until you are comfortable taking your routine into your own hands, or keep them around for a while. Working with someone in person is a fantastic way to stay consistent and motivated.

Tip #2: Fruits and Vegetables

You surely have heard it before, increasing your whole fruit and vegetable intake can help you live an overall better quality of life. These foods are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and can help control blood sugar, reduce blood pressure, reduce bad LDL cholesterol, reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce risk of osteoporosis, reduce risk of respiratory disease, improve brain health and cognition, increase nutrient absorption, and feed good gut bacteria, all of which contribute to a stronger and more robust immune system (3).

The list goes on and on for why we should eat more of these foods. So, the question remains - why do most people still not get their recommended intake every day? The simple answer is that most people do not know how to make these foods more palatable, and when they’re stacked up against easy-to-eat, hyper-palatable, ultra-processed junk foods, the latter almost always win out.

One secret for making vegetables more palatable is to use blends of herbs and spices such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano, etc. Once you start using spices such as these, your veggies will no longer taste bland, and you will learn to enjoy them. Another secret is to use vegetable-based sauces without added sugars, such as tomato sauce or butternut squash sauce, as toppings. There are many different varieties of these, just check the ingredient label for any extra unwanted additives.

One final secret for making veggies more palatable is to finely dice them, sauté them, and mix them into a favorite recipe of yours. For example, do you like lasagna? Try slicing a turnip ultra-thin with a mandolin, layer the turnip in place of the pasta, throw some sautéed spinach and bell peppers into the middle with your usual tomato sauce, cheese, and grass-fed beef, and bake it how you normally would! The end result is a healthier option that tastes very close to the original recipe.

Fruits are much easier to eat since they’re sweet, which means we can definitely overdo those as well, especially if they go into a smoothie. If that’s the case, just measure the fruit portion out to make sure you’re getting one or two servings instead of three or four. Also, mix in some protein powder and maybe some spinach, kale, or avocado to fill the rest of the smoothie cup. Another great way to get your fruits in is to chop them up and mix them in with some greek yogurt. Berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are great in this combination, and they’re high in fiber.

There are endless ways to fit these foods into your diet, just get creative and find ways to eat them that resemble what you currently enjoy eating. This will make them more palatable. If you want more guidance with your nutrition, download my free sustainable nutrition guide here. You can find it at the bottom of the page.

Tip #3: Sleep

This is a huge factor that can either make or break your ability to fight off illness. It is well-documented that both short and long-term sleep disruption can have detrimental physical and psychological effects such as pro-inflammatory responses in the body, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional distress and mood disorders, poor physical performance, poor mental acuity, and hormone imbalances, among many others (4).

Of course these effects are all linked back to a reduced capacity for your immune system to fight off a pathogen, virus, or infection when it encounters them. We all talk about getting more sleep, but let’s be honest, our modern way of living is not conducive at all to a good night of sleep. We are all at a major disadvantage: parents of young children get woken up frequently in the middle of the night, people have widescreen 4K TV’s waiting for them in the living room or bedroom when they get home from work in the evening, people have a vast quantity of food available to them in the kitchen just waiting to be eaten close to bedtime, and alcohol is widely used in the evening to “take the edge off” after a long day.

These are just some of the common obstacles in our way towards getting a truly restful night of sleep. Unless you’re willing to make some serious trade-offs, many of these obstacles will remain in your life, and it is up to you to decide which strategies you can effectively implement to swing the advantage back in your favor. A few of these strategies include: turning off the TV one hour before you get into bed, wearing blue light blocking glasses at night, keeping your bedroom cool (~67 deg F), drinking chamomile tea before bed, using a meditation app to reduce stress for fifteen minutes before bed, buying black-out curtains for your bedroom, or sleeping with mouth tape on (no I’m not kidding; ask me about this in the ‘comments’ section).

You can learn more about how to optimize your sleep by reading my Ultimate Guide to a Better Night of Sleep.

Tip #4: Supplementation

So, we finally get into the fun stuff. You should always strive to optimize the basics in Tips 1-3, however, there are instances when supplementation is a good idea, specifically in athletes or highly active people, or if you know you are deficient in key nutrients. This is the most important thing to consider; making sure you do not become deficient in these nutrients. Otherwise, your immune system will almost certainly not be functioning optimally. If you believe you are deficient in a key nutrient, I recommend that you go to your physician and request a blood test, or you can go out-of-pocket and get your own blood test done through a company like InsideTracker or EverlyWell.

In any case, I have found that the following supplements may be beneficial to use as directed to help bolster your immunity, especially around times of frequent travel or around the holidays when we are more susceptible to catching an illness. Supplementing with Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, and Elderberry have all been found to have a beneficial and important role in immune function.

In general, stick to the recommended intake on the supplement label. If you’re thinking about taking more than the recommended amount and have concerns about possible toxicity, always consult your physician first to ensure the supplement amount is right for you. You can also consult the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Dietary References Intakes (DRI) and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) of vitamins and minerals as a guideline.

Eating foods high in Vitamin C like fruits can ensure you’re getting enough, but it can also be beneficial to supplement with it to prevent getting sick and to reduce the length of the illness if you do get sick (5). So make sure you’re eating your fruits daily and feel free to tack on a daily supplement during the winter months for good measure.

It is extremely important to ensure you are not deficient in Vitamin D. This is common during the winter months when days are shorter and we’re inside more. In this case, it would be beneficial to supplement with it (6). Otherwise, ensure you are eating foods high in this nutrient, such as salmon, tuna, whole eggs, and mushrooms. Also, get outside in the sunlight with direct exposure on the face and skin for at least fifteen minutes a day.

Zinc has many important roles in the body, contains antioxidant qualities, and facilitates production of immune system cells important to fighting off infection (7). Just be sure you do not take zinc with high-fiber or dairy-containing foods, as these negatively impact absorption of the mineral. A common way to supplement this mineral is through ZMA, or zinc magnesium aspartate. The combination of zinc and magnesium make it an ideal supplement to take before bed to help reduce stress and promote a restful night of sleep. Taking it at this time can also ensure that you don’t eat too close to bed time, because it is best taken on an empty stomach.

Finally, elderberry syrup can be used to substantially reduce upper respiratory symptoms due to viral infections, and are a potentially safer alternative to prescriptions drugs for routine cases of the common cold and influenza (8). Just ensure that the brand you purchase does not contain hefty amounts of added sugar, especially if you are trying to control your blood glucose levels. At the first sign of symptoms, take a serving of this syrup to help boost immunity and reduce symptoms faster, then continue as directed on the label or your physician.

Tip #5: Nasal Rinses

This is one potentially very powerful strategy I just looked into this year when I had some COVID symptoms. It is a good strategy to use after travel or if you have general congestion or sinus trouble, not just when you catch something. However, at the first sign of possible symptoms (e.g. scratchy throat, cough, headache, nasal congestion, etc.), whether COVID, a common cold, or another viral illness, start to fight back against it by flushing your nasal passages early two to three times a day. This has been shown to reduce symptoms quickly, and reduce the severity of the viral infection prior to it moving on further in the respiratory system. As a matter of fact, a team of physicians has put together a home treatment guide for COVID that you can discuss with your primary care provider (9). They recommend that nasal irrigation as one of the first approaches to early treatment for much better outcomes.

I started using the following protocol the day after my first symptoms, and I felt that it helped me recover tremendously fast. My symptoms were gone on the fourth day after symptoms surfaced, and I felt good enough to resume my daily activities on the third day (of note, I still followed the CDC’s guidelines for isolation even though I recovered quickly). It is important to note that although this approach can be effective, I also slept a lot, supplemented with Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Magnesium, drink lots of water, and ate only whole foods like vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, nuts, other anti-inflammatory-promoting fats, and bone broth; nothing processed! The combination of all these strategies likely had the most profound impact, rather than any strategy alone.

Nevertheless, in the video below I share with you the nasal irrigation protocol I used. The ingredients are: warm water, pure xylitol, iodine, and sea salt; all of which have been suggested to contain potent anti-viral properties (10, 11, 12).

In closing, I truly hope this article has been informative and useful for you. Save it, share it, utilize these strategies often and you will find that your immune system will come to the rescue when you need it most.

stay healthy

References

1. Fortunato AK, Pontes WM, et al. Strength Training Session Induces Important Changes on Physiological, Immunological, and Inflammatory Biomarkers. Journal of Immunology Research. Vol 18. Article ID 9675216, 12 pages.

2. Nieman DC and Wentz LM. The compelling link between physical activity and the body’s defense system. Journal of Sports Health and Science. 8 (2019). 201-217.

3. Dhandevi PEM and Rajesh J. Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Benefits and Progress of Nutrition Education Interventions - Narrative Review Article. Iran J Public Health. Vol. 44 (10). 2015. 1309-1321.

4. Medic G, Wille M, and Hemels M. Short- and Long-Term Health Consequences of Sleep Disruption. Nat Sci Sleep. 2017; 9: 151-161.

5. Carr AC and Maggini S. Vitamin C and Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017 (9), 1211; doi:10.3390/nu9111211.

6. Martens PJ, Gysemens C, et al. Vitamin D’s Effect on Immune Function. Nutrients. 2020 (12), 1248; doi:10.3390/nu12051248.

7. Hingst J and Mueller K. The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements. Human Kinetics. 2013.

8. Hawkins J, Baker C, et al. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) supplementation effectively treats upper respiratory symptoms: A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. Complement Ther Med. 2019 Feb;42:361-365.

9. Orient JM, McCullough PA, Vliet EL, and Snavely J. A Guide to Home-Based COVID Treatment: Step-By-Step Doctor’s Plan That Could Save Your Life. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. 2021.

10. Yin SY, Kim HJ, and Kim HJ. Protective Effect of Dietary Xylitol on Influenza A Virus Infection. PLoS ONE. 2014. 9(1). e84633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084633.

11. Naqvi S, Citardi M, et al. Povidone-iodine solution as SARS-CoV-2 prophylaxis for procedures of the upper aerodigestive tract a theoretical framework. Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. 2020. 49:77.

12. Ramalingam S, Graham C, et al. Hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling should be considered as a treatment option for COVID-19. JoGH. 2020. Vol 10. No 1.

about the author

Coach Adrian Wolff has been working in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and group fitness coach since 2016. He grew up in Chicago, IL playing ice hockey, soccer, and tennis, and developed his passion for fitness while serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Shortly after leaving active duty, he began a career in the fitness industry as a volunteer CrossFit coach. Then he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While working on his degree, he continued to coach people of various backgrounds in the aspects of sports performance, functional fitness, and nutrition.

He graduated with a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Physiology in 2019, and moved to Las Vegas. He continues to work with youth to Division 1 collegiate athletes, and everyday people to help them achieve their fitness goals.