We’re doing this a week long series because exercise is good for you, blah blah blah we know this. Honestly, we’ve heard it a hundred times. It’s good for your heart and helps manage weight issues, but there are some other off the wall effects of exercise you never saw coming. We’ll give you a couple each day though the week.    

It Can Make Your FLU Shot Work Better

Not only can exercise help make your flu shot work better, but if you’re just heading to the clinic for flu shot booster, it even makes the booster more effective. In other words, exercise is the booster’s booster! If you are an active person, this researcher found that you are a whopping 50% more likely to have elevated antibodies to fight off disease. Another study showed that you not only get elevated antibodies, but also increased immune cells (T-cells) as well. 

The effect was clear whether you were generally more active in your life, or if you simply went out for a workout right after your vaccination. Wow.  

You’ll Sleep Better

Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? There’s a great pill for that. It’s called exercise. 

This summary article from Johns Hopkins spells it out. Exercise causes you to fall asleep quicker at night, and gets you down into that deeper REM sleep more of the time. Your body and brain need the renewal that sleep brings, and the biochemical impact of exercise helps you get there. It’s a total win-win.

And the good news is that you don’t have to be some Olympian tri-athlete ironman for exercise to help you stop counting sheep and go to sleep. Just 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity per day will do it. Nighty night!