How Cyclists Can Strengthen Immunity This Winter: Part One.

A 2016 study by Raysmith and Drew found that athletes were 7-times more likely to achieve a performance goal when they completed over 80% of their planned training weeks.

During your annual end-of-season review, I'd highly recommend counting the number of sessions missed, as you'll better understand how much potential you're leaving on the table.

For every modified training week, the chances of success are significantly reduced.

Therefore, illness and injury can burden your ability to progress as an athlete, and more so than you probably thought. With this in mind, this three-part series aims to identify and educate cyclists on bulletproofing their immunity.

Ultimately, cyclists will often find themselves in pathogenic environments, whether at the gym, a café, or a supermarket. Therefore, exposure to certain viruses and bacteria will occur, meaning it's essential to ensure the immune function is robust enough to tolerate the potential immune threat best.

For a successful winter training block, the greater the number of training sessions you can complete, the better athlete you'll be going into next season. So, we must start making 'availability' a high priority. Fortunately, cyclists have a toolbox full of immuno-weaponry to combat this.

Nutrition interventions are split into two categories: Immune resistance and immune tolerance. Parts two and three will delve into each intervention in greater detail, where we identify specific nutrients and supplements to support immunity.

Today, however, we'll provide a generalised nutrition, training and lifestyle overview as outlined by Walsh, 2019:

• Nutrition status influences susceptibility to infection and the body's response.
• Macronutrients are involved in immune cell metabolism/functioning and protein synthesis, whereas micronutrients are involved in antioxidant defence. Therefore, following a diet enriched in high-quality foods aimed to minimise nutrient deficiencies and contain an appropriate balance of protein, carbohydrates and dietary fat will offer protection.
• Very low-calorie diets can increase upper respiratory infection (URI) risk by 2-8fold in female athletes. Therefore, there's a heightened need to ensure athletes meet their body's demands by fuelling the work required.
• Zinc lozenges (75mg elemental zinc) appear to inhibit viral activity in your throat and may decrease URI by ~3 days on the onset of symptoms.
• Probiotics and prebiotics can provide tolerogenic effects by strengthening the intestinal barrier, reducing gut permeability and competing with pathogens at the intestinal wall. Probiotics also have anti-inflammatory effects and produce lactic acid after metabolism, which can decrease pathogen growth in the gastrointestinal tract.
• Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant and scavenges free radicals to reduce cellular damage. Vitamin C levels fall in leucocytes (white blood cells) due to an increase in oxidative stress when infected with the common cold. Therefore, 250-1000mg daily can restore levels and decrease URI incidence.
• Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties, is protective against respiratory infections, and can enhance our innate immunity. Recommendations are to supplement 1,000IU (if you're not deficient) daily during winter, as 80-100% of vitamin D is typically obtained via sun exposure (UVB rays).
• Heavy training during or after incomplete recovery from viral infections can cause serious medical complications. Therefore, monitoring the training load and tolerance test each session is paramount when returning to full training following illness.
• Heavy exercise temporarily decreases immune function, hypothesising an 'open window' for URI following demanding training sessions and competitions. Therefore, it's recommended to slowly increase training load every week by approximately 10% instead of ramping up training intensity too quickly.
• Psychological stress, sleep disturbances and physical strain can influence immunity via the HPA axis and sympathetic nervous system. Knowing this, mental health plays a pivotal role in maintaining immunity and improving tolerance to illness.

It's worth noting that the main pathway of pathogens into the body is through the mouth, nose and eyes. Therefore, avoiding self-inoculation is paramount. Essentially, avoid touching door handles, barbells or shopping trolleys, then immediately rubbing your face. In this instance, we highly recommend that hand hygiene is a high priority, especially if you've been in public spaces.

Finally, and although sometimes unavoidable, especially if you have children or work in hospitals, Don't be around sick people.

Next week, in part 2, we'll explore the specific nutrients reported to improve immune resistance and reduce the severity and duration of illness.

Until next time.

- Coach Chris