Impact of Exercise
Hard workout can impact on immune system. The “Open Window” threory suggests the following:
- During hard workout, the immune system gets a short boost.
- Upon the completion of the workout, the immune system fall lower the the previous normal level and remain low for 3-72 hours.
It also implies that a moderate workout can potentially boost your immune system, while overtraining makes things worse.
Other Factors
There are many other factors can also play here:
- Rest/sleep
- Nutrition / Hydration
- Psychological stress
- Exposure - this is particularly important during hard races, where you are exposed to a lot of people.
Nutrition in a bit more details
Nutribution is probably one of the most manageable factor among the above list.
- fellrnr suggested that proper and prompt nutrient timing can reduce the impact of workout significantly. It included a very high protein routine, which he claimed to reduce the training effects significantly. The take-away is probably that protein is vital here during and post exercise.
- Vitamin C is often believe to boot immune system.