Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be talking about how to stay well during the flu season. If you have any questions about today’s blog then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
The sickness has hit. This has been the worst season for flu that a lot of people have ever seen, and I know that’s making a lot of people timid to go out in public. It’s getting to the point where I’m having people calling to cancel sessions because they’re too scared to come to the studio to workout. People are scared to come to the studio, to go out to restaurants, to go to shop. People right now are staying in and hiding away from the world.
Today I wanted to give you some tips that are really important for keeping the viruses and bacteria away. I’m not going to talk about any specific supplements. What we’re going to do is look at the foundations of what you can use in your everyday life to prevent illness or at least minimize your risk, which is the biggest thing.
#1. Nutrition
Nutrition is really about making sure that you get your protein, vegetable, and healthy fat.
With veggies they are really important. If you’re eating in season veggies, you’re getting a higher dose of vitamins and minerals that can actually be beneficial to you right now, like vitamin C. Root vegetables can be a great benefit, and they’re really easy to throw into soups and stews. So definitely load up on the veggies.
When it comes to probiotics, it is an important thing for the gut to be able to have enough healthy bacteria to fight off bad bacteria. And with this everyone thinks that it’s a supplement. And supplements are great, especially if you keep getting sick. But you have to remember that there are a lot of foods and drinks out there that have probiotics in them, as well. The more probiotics that you can get into your body, the better. Just remember that you’re eating things with probiotics in them, they can’t be heated, or they will die off. You can eat or drink them cold, and they also have probiotic waters now that you can drink cold.
So the key there is making sure that you have a wide variety. Having the same thing or the same brand over and over again gets old fast, an it ensures that your body gets as many different strains as possible.
This is when a lot of people start thinking about supplements and start taking their vitamin C, and that’s great. You need supplements to a point if you’re missing them out of your diet. But your body isn’t going to absorb them as well as it would with food. Food should come first, and if you need extra then you can pull that supplement in to help out.
And something like vitamin C can be helpful before you get sick, but once you’re sick the things that are going to help are the garlic, onion, and your other good vegetables to get you better. If you start that vitamin C just because you get sick, then it won’t do too much good.
#2. Exercise
This is one to watch. If you’re constantly getting ill, have been ill recently, or are ill right now, then you don’t want to exercise too hard. You want to make it a moderate level and find that even balance for your body. If you start coming down with something you’ll have to take things down for a bit, and when you get better you bring that right back up.
Another point I wanted to make on exercise is that if you exercise to hard, your immune system will lower during your workout and you’ll be more likely to catch something.
Now, a lot of people are concerned to go to gyms right now. So if you go to a typical gym, I would say to take some sanitizing wipes or something to wipe down all the equipment before you use it. Don’t feel odd for doing it, I promise it’s in your best interest.
As a personal trainer in Amarillo, I have a smaller studio where we can keep up and make sure that everything stays clean. And we even go a step further than that in offering virtual sessions. Maybe the gym isn’t right for you and you need more of a video based workout. So maybe you’re doing group videos that you pay for month to month, or maybe you’re more interested in having a personal trainer that can coach you from a distance, you can stay at home with your own equipment and not have to worry about getting sick.
#3. Hydration
If you aren’t staying fully hydrated, then you aren’t able to fully remove toxins from the body as well as you could otherwise. You want to stay hydrated to remove those toxins, and it will also help to keep your body to keep working and functioning at 100%. When you’re dehydrated everything slows down and takes you to where you’re immune system is weakened.
#4. Sleep
This is a top priority. With these top four there’s really no negotiating, you need all four to make it work.
Sleep is when your body does it’s best work. It’s when it’s not being asked to do anything else. When you’re awake, you’re constantly demanding things from your body, but during sleep the body is just doing its job. If you’ve eaten well, exercised, and hydrated then your body is going to have everything that it needs to be able to rejuvenate and replenish itself.
So those are some key things to really keep in mind during this season. Hiding in the house isn’t going to do that much good, so you want to live your life and build your immune system through healthy nutrition, hydrating, and sleeping.
So if you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.