Physical Activity and Stress Resistance

Regular, Moderate Exercise is Associated with Improved Overall Health: Regular moderate physical activity positively influences many aspects of health. For example, a physically active lifestyle is associated with decreased risks of coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. A physically active lifestyle may also decrease the risk of bacterial or viral illness. We have proposed that the reported reduction in infectious disease associated with habitual physical activity is caused by an indirect health benefit of exercise, that is, stress reduction. Exposure to physical and/or psychological stressors modulates the immune response. Stressor exposure is neither globally immunosuppressive nor immunopotentiating, but rather immunomodulatory. Factors that modulate the impact that the stress response has on the immune function include the following: the duration of stressor exposure; the perceived controllability of the stressor; the measure of the immune response; and the physiological state of the organism (e.g., young vs old, anxious vs calm, healthy vs ill, and physically active vs sedentary). Voluntary physical activity may prevent stress-induced suppression of the immune system, thereby.