THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE TRAINING ON THE SEVERITY AND DURATION OF A UPPER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS 554

Abstract

Athletes and exercise enthusiasts commonly continue to participate in competitive and recreational sports during a viral upper respiratory illness(URI). The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether exercise training affects the severity and duration of a rhinovirus-caused URI. Following health history and serological screening and signing of informed consent forms, those subjects who were rhinovirus 16 (RV 16) antibody-free completed a graded exercise test. Thirty-four individuals (ages 18-29 years) of moderate fitness (32 ml/kg-1/min-1- 60 ml/kg-1/min-1) were randomly assigned to the exercise group (EX) while 16 individuals of similar age and fitness served as a non-exercise (NEX) control group. All EX and NEX subjects were inoculated with RV 16 on two consecutive days. EX subjects completed 40 minutes of supervised exercise every other day at 70% of heart rate reserve for a ten day period. EX subjects were asked to abstain from any additional physical activity while the NEX group was requested to be as sedentary as possible. Every 12 hours All subjects completed a 13-item symptom severity checklist and a physical activity log, Used facial tissues were collected and weighed (symptom severity measure) during these same reporting periods. Nasal washes (RV 16 quantification) were completed over a fourteen day period. Two-way analysis of variance indicated that there were no significant differences (p<0.05) in the severity/duration of URI symptom scores or in the mucous weights between the EX and NEX groups for any given day. There was no significant difference between the amount of RV 16 isolated between the EX and NEX groups. These results suggest that moderate exercise training during a rhinovirus-caused URI does not appear to alter the severity and duration of the illness.