The Busy Executives Guide to Improving Immune Function

The coronavirus pandemic slapped me across the face.

No, I don’t have it. I don’t think.

The smack was delivered in the form as a cold dose of reality: without health, everything else crumbles. In the fitness world, we spend a lot of time talking about losing fat, building muscle, and getting stronger.

But none of this matters if the foundation of your physique is compromised: a healthy body.

If you can’t stay healthy, you can’t show up to work. If you’re coughing, sneezing, and wheezing you can’t convey confidence, clarify, and energy on a sales call. You can’t show up as the best version of you for your family.

Oh and the whole gym thing? You can’t focus on your workouts, train to the best of your ability, and reap the benefits of better health, more confidence, and non-stop energy.

Here are 7 foundation steps to continue making gains in the gym, but making sure you’re immune system is healthy as well.

1. Make sleep your priority. Poor sleep compromises every major function of the body. When sleep is reduced to five hours per night, testosterone levels have been shown to plummet. Insulin sensitivity, or how well you break down food and use it for energy is compromised.

Your immune system is also in overdrive, battling a suboptimal environment to keep potentially harmful substances from wrecking your health.

Sleep is the foundational basis for immune function. Here are a few tips to improve sleep:

• Go for a walk around sunrise each morning to set your circadian rhythm.
• Avoid alcohol 3 hours before bed, eating 2 hours before bed, and screens 1 hr before bed.
• wake and rise at the same time each day. 
• Get 7-8 hours each night. This is the best thing you can do for your health.

2. Avoid harsh dieting. Aggressive fat loss diets are a major stressor to your body. When combined with other stress from work, a lack of sleep, and the economy it can be too much to bear. The problem with compounding stress is the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that disrupts almost all bodily processes, according to the Mayo Clinic.

You may want to lose fat and perform your best. I get it. But you’re best not dieting aggressively when stress is through the roof.

3. Avoid sugar, junk food, and potentially alcohol, gluten, and dairy. I love ice cream. Sadly, ice cream doesn’t love me. Every time I eat it, my digestion goes bonkers, my nose runs, and my joints feel like crud the next day. This is a? ?c???r???u???e???l??? ???c???u???r???s???e??? lactose intolerance at play, and many people have both intolerances and allergies to gluten and dairy.

Pay attention to how you feel when you have certain foods. Is your digestive system throwing fits? Is your nose running? Do you feel lethargic?

If so, this is likely an overactive immune response that’s further stressing your body. Eliminate problem foods and substances.

4. Relieve stress through meditation: Use headspace meditation for three minutes each morning. Trust me on this: if you don’t do it in the morning, you’ll get slammed at work later in the day and probably skip out. Plus, it's free right now. Meditation has plenty of scientific and anecdotal evidence behind it. Commit to a process, even if its as short as three minutes.

You’ll find yourself being more aware, less stressed, and better able to cope throughout the day.

5. Go for Daily walks, ideally in the sun. Vitamin D-ficiency :) is one of the most common deficiencies in the world. It’s tied to higher rates of depression, cancer, weakness, and can suppress your immune system. Even two to three 15+ minute walks throughout the day while exposing your skin will boost levels and burn calories. Try doing one before work, one while doing a phone meeting, and another after dinner with the family. 

6.Set hard time limits:  Wake up and go to bed at the same time. Have your most crucial work task written down so you can knock it out right when you wake up. Staying organized (and productive) will decrease work-related stress, which is the root cause of many poor nights’ sleep and mindless snacking.

7. Decrease training intensity. Long, intense workouts with tons of volume can beat the snot out of your joints and immune system. If you have a full gym while on lockdown, you are fortunate, but don’t obliterate yourself out of boredom. If you don’t have a gym, make do with what's around you. You can transform your body with push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, crunches, sprints, and daily walks.

Remember: Health is the first wealth. If you’re not taking care of your body and immune system, everything else in life is compromised.

The same habits that keep you strong and healthy year-round are as important now as ever before:

• Make sleep a priority.
• Eat minimally, unprocessed foods that ideally had a face or came from the ground.
• Proactively reduce stress with meditation and daily walks.
• Avoid sugar, sweets, and if you don’t handle them well, dairy and gluten. 
• Organize your day to maximize productivity and reduce work-related stress.
• Get natural sunlight.
• Train hard, but smart. 4x week and 49.5 or so minutes is all you need.

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