A Guide to Different Intensities of Exercise, Vaccination, and Sports Nutrition in the Course of Preparing Elite Athletes for the Management of Upper Respiratory Infections during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

Hamid Agha-Alinejad, Amir Hossein Ahmadi Hekmatikar, Ruheea Taskin Ruhee, Mahdieh Molanouri Shamsi, Masoud Rahmati, Kayvan Khoramipour and Katsuhiko Suzuki
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Hamid Agha-Alinejad: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Teheran 1411713116, Iran
Amir Hossein Ahmadi Hekmatikar: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Teheran 1411713116, Iran
Ruheea Taskin Ruhee: Future Innovation Institute, Waseda University, Shinjuku 162-0041, Japan
Mahdieh Molanouri Shamsi: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Teheran 1411713116, Iran
Masoud Rahmati: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Lorestan University, Khoramabad 6816785468, Iran
Kayvan Khoramipour: Institute of Neuropharmacology, Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Afzalipour School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman 7616914115, Iran
Katsuhiko Suzuki: Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa 359-1192, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: Elite athletes use high-intensity training to maintain their fitness level. However, intense training can harm the immune system, making athletes suspectable to COVID-19 and negatively affecting their performance. In addition, the diet of athletes should be appreciated more as it is another influencer of the immune system, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. The other important issue elite athletes face currently is vaccination and its possible intervention with their training. The present study attempts to discuss the impact of different training intensities, nutritional strategies, and vaccination on the immune system function in elite athletes. To this end, Scopus, ISC, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched from 1988 to 2021 using the related keywords. The results of our review showed that although high-intensity exercise can suppress the immune system, elite athletes should not stop training in the time of infection but use low- and moderate-intensity training. Moderate-intensity exercise can improve immune function and maintain physical fitness. In addition, it is also better for athletes not to undertake high-intensity training at the time of vaccination, but instead perform moderate to low-intensity training. Furthermore, nutritional strategies can be employed to improve immune function during high-intensity training periods.

Keywords: athlete’s immune system; training intensity; COVID-19; performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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