Winter Health
As we head toward the winter season, the risk of sickness increases, due to the environment, congregating in enclosed spaces, and less time outdoors. A prime focus of the Purple Patch approach is to endurance our athletes to build their fitness and race day performance from a platform of health. In the long term, consistency and improved performance are not possible without a healthy body and mind to support continuous hard work.
How can how optimize your training and daily habits to strengthen your immune system and ensure the winter season sets you up for success rather than putting you in a hole? Let’s find out.
Sections:
Why You Need Immune Support This Winter
Why should we focus on immune support now? While staying sickness free and healthy all year is always a priority, the winter season brings a host of reasons for a significant increase in disease risk, with the most common being:
Less daylight (here in the Northern hemisphere), colder days, and as a result, a higher incidence of sickness.
Plenty of travel stress for many. Travel increases the risk of virus exposure, including congregating with big groups inside ski chalets, airports, restaurants, and more.
We also face a unique winter ahead, commonly referred to as a tri-demic, or what I like to refer to as a ‘triathlon of sickness.’ This consists of RSV (cold), flu (nasty strains this year), and yet another rise in COVID (less lethal by a long way, but still harmful)
This combination of sickness strains presents a particular risk to younger children, many of whom have missed out on years of exposure due to less interaction with other children, all leading to less robust immune systems.
These factors mean we have to make a simple decision:
Hunker down for winter and become a hermit, or…
Build a platform of resilience to help bolster defenses against illness, and combat the worst effects of any sickness you are hit with.
I hope you join me in choosing the second option. So let’s see how we actually do this.
Optimizing Your Training Approach to Strengthen Your Defenses
Lower training volume
Maintain a weekly training load that is less than your normal weekly capacity (within context of life commitments).
A lower total training load (in the short term) reduces muscular-skeletal injury risk and global systemic stress, allowing you to build a better platform of health.
Avoid filling your additional time gained each week with other stressors and bad habits around recovery (e.g., sacrificing sleep to get in a few extra hours of training). Instead, commit to prioritizing downtime and recuperation.
Lean into health-promoting training
Research shows us the benefit of endurance activity is like a J-shaped curve for our immune health. Moderate activity is good - but too much volume or intensity (relative to what we can handle) will exponentially reduce immune function.
Strength training has a similar effect: too much can be counterproductive, but the correct dose can provide a strong positive immune response. Most endurance enthusiasts don’t focus on strength, so adding it as a priority each week is sure to develop performance gains and stronger immune health.
High-intensity interval training is a powerful stimulus to developing immune health, but the benefits are most powerful with shorter (20-60 seconds) very high-intensity intervals rather than extended intervals of 3 to 8 minutes. Hit the speed but for short bursts each time.
While training outside is probably more enjoyable, be pragmatic
Executing every session inside is not optimal. There are many emotional and physical benefits from the natural light (even if it’s cloudy) and flowing cooler air of the outdoors.
The key is that when you do choose to transition outside to train, be smart: wear appropriate attire, layer accordingly, and avoid exposure if it's pouring rain or snowing heavily.
The winter months aren’t a time to try and drive massive fitness gains at the risk of disease or injury. Rather, it’s a period perfect for building a strong base upon which to set the rest of the year – provided you stay healthy!
Daily Habits for Immune Support
If you have been around Purple Patch for any period of time, you’ll have heard me talking about the “Four Pillars of Performance.” In no other context are these pillars more relevant. We have already covered the first two pillars – Endurance and Strength – so we will focus on the remaining two pillars: Nutrition and Recovery.
Nutrition: It may seem obvious, but stuffing your face with fast-food and nutrient-poor desserts isn’t going to put you in the fast lane to a strong immune system. While you shouldn’t restrict yourself massively during the holiday season, do focus on nutrient-dense foods and balanced meals:
Citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, ginger, spinach, yogurt, almonds, sunflower seeds, turmeric, green tea, papaya, kiwi, chicken, and shellfish are great options to include in your diet
From a more macro perspective: adequate proteins, carbs (including veggies and fruits), and fats – are all essential
Hydration. An oft-overlooked aspect of nutrition in endurance sports, hydration is also key for cellular health and a working immune system.
Our immune system depends on nutrients delivered via our bloodstream, and our bloodstream is compromised mostly of water.
Adding to this, our focus, energy, and clarity are improved and optimized when properly hydrated.
Recovery: This is perhaps the most important of the pillars when it comes to immune support. Just because you aren’t training as hard and often as you would in-season, don’t let your sleep hygiene go out the window. Getting adequate and good quality sleep is essential to protect your body from disease and lessen the severity of the disease should it hit. Here are a few proven habits to boost recovery and sleep quality:
Ensure a cool and dark sleeping environment.
Create a nighttime routine that relaxes your body and mind before settling down to sleep.
If you have the capacity, meditation can be a great stress reliever (contrary to popular belief, exercise is not meditation).
Daily downtime (10-20 min of quiet time or nap) results in boosted HGH production and higher overall productivity.
Walking post meal time is an effective way to reduce unwanted glucose spikes (not all spikes are bad folks) and improve circulation.
Tips and Tricks to Keep You Healthy
Let’s finish with a few tidbits and tips for the winter season.
Supplements: While supplements have their place, it’s important to tailor their use to your individual needs. A great way to do this is by getting a blood test that examines your biomarkers and can let you know where you fall short. Purple Patch has a partnership with InsideTracker, a personalized blood analysis company that focuses on getting your key markers to optimal, not just adequate. Consider getting your blood tested this winter season to keep you on the right track for 2023 (you can use the code PURPLEPATCHPRO25).
Community : A puzzlingly controversial topic for some, if you have the opportunity to get vaccinated, both against COVID-19 and the common flu, I recommend you strongly consider taking it. Despite various media sensationalism, there have proven to be very few risks or downsides – and they’re greatly outweighed by the risks of complication from the diseases themselves.
Masking up and washing your hands: A simple and effective way to protect yourself and others from bacteria, especially in public areas like bars, airports, and restaurants.
Travel and timezone shifts: Jetlag is never going to be optimal for your health, but there are several “hacks” you can use to minimize the damage:
Additional hydration.
Movement on arrival and mid-travel (a stretch on the plane, or a quick stop during a long car ride).
Fasting pre-flight, and only small meals while flying longer distances.
Making sure sleep (aligned to the current time zone) is a priority for the first few days after arriving.
Illness: For some, sickness will hit no matter how well you take care of yourself or how closely you adhere to good habits. I have outlined a protocol for if the sickness has affected you neckline up versus neckline down:
If you’re sick from ‘the neck up’ (head cold):
Light movement can be beneficial, but it’s best to hold off on real training.
Focus on sleep and naps.
Double down on healthy habits, including great nutrition.
Avoid alcohol if possible; alcohol acts as an immune system suppressant.
If you’re sick ‘from the neck down’ (chest cold, body aches, etc):
Much the same as neckline up, but movement should be avoided. Trying to train in such a situation will only prolong your symptoms and keep you out of the game for longer.
Perspective on stress: As time-starved athletes, you juggle multiple sources of stress, and your body doesn’t distinguish between the stress of travel, training, or illness. A virus or bacterial infection will only add to your ‘bucket of stress’. Especially over the holiday season, take a mental and physical break from training and stay patient that your coming year will bring the challenges and performance opportunities you strive for. Pushing yourself now will not lead to significant fitness gains next year.
We wish you a healthy winter season.
If you’d like to explore a triathlon training program that helps you sustainably integrate sport and life and offers the support and education to help you nail supporting habits so that you can be healthy across all areas of life, check out Tri Squad.