Over the next few days we’ll be talking all about boosting your immunity and decreasing your likelihood of getting sick, and not just from Coronavirus! We’ll be providing action steps to help you become stronger, healthier, and more resistant to illness. If you’re reading this, you more than likely are doing your part to follow a healthy lifestyle, which is amazing and YOU. ARE. AWESOME.!
Today is all about prevention. This is the most powerful way to reduce the risk of getting sick and spreading it to others. It’s also the #1 thing that you have 100% control of when it comes to staying healthy. Follow these simple steps to ensure that you are doing your part in preventing the spread of illness and to protect yourself:
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1. Wash your hands with hot soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Basic, I know! But take a moment and think about how much/little you wash your hands. How often are you putting your hands on commonly touched surfaces? Make sure that you wash your hands before you eat, after you use the bathroom, shake someones hands, or being in public places.
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2. Carry hand sanitizer or alcohol wipes with you! This will provide another option for protection, especially when you may not have access to soap and water and you’re in public places.
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3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth without cleaning/santizing your hands. Don’t bite your nails either. Your eyes and your nose are the most common places for germs to get into your body! Cover your mouth/nose when you sneeze/cough with your elbow crease or a tissue. This will result in the bacteria/viruses (if you have them) to be more localized to your elbow crease, as compared to your hand where (if there is no access to cleaning products) the spread of germs can happen.
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4. Avoid trying to “sweat” out an illness. Unless you’re working out alone at home, you increase the likelihood of transmitting the disease/virus to others. (Don’t be that guy/girl!) Although the corona virus and other illnesses may not be transmitted via sweat; saliva (spit), coughing, and unsanitized contact may result in the spread of sickness. If you’re not feeling well, stay at home and don’t risk spreading it to other healthy people by trying to tough it out. Depending on how sick you are, exercising can be stressful on your immune system and decrease recovery time, which can make you more sick, but it puts others at risk of getting ill too. If you just have the common cold it’s more than likely okay to get a little workout in. (At home of course!)
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5. Get enough sleep and limit stress! Sometimes both of these are out of our control but regularly getting to bed earlier, shutting off electronics, and how we react during stressful situations are 100% in our control. Your body releases cytokines during sleep which are proteins that help fight infection and reduce inflammation. The production of these infection fighting antibodies is reduced during times of high stress and lack of sleep!
Just like everything else health & fitness related, prevention and being proactive is key! Do your best and follow the above steps!
