Immune System Training: Exercise vs. Meditation

What’s going to work better to prevent acute respiratory infections: moderate exercise training or meditation training? Have you predicted which would be more effective without looking at the article? Or do you not have enough information yet? Let’s take a look at what each group did.

The moderate exercise group met for 2.5 hours each week with personnel trained in exercise physiology. The time was broken up into education about exercise and time practicing on different forms of equipment such as treadmills, exercise bikes, etc. The rest of the week, they exercised for 45 minutes per day. Most subjects used walking or jogging as their home modality of exercise. The subjects were trained to exercise at a moderate level based on the Borg perceived-exertion scale; once trained in assessing exertion, it matches up quite well with the effort people are actually performing during exercise.

The meditation group met with personnel trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques for 2.5 hours a week. This program “is based on the idea that an increased awareness of physical, emotional, and cognitive manifestations of stress may lead to a healthier mind-body response to stress.” The subjects were also to practice the stress reduction techniques for 45 minutes every day at home.

The control group did not do either of the techniques. The training lasted for eight weeks. The variables I mentioned in Tuesday’s memo were collected before, during, and after completion of the eight weeks training. What were the results? I’ll give you a little more time to think about it and give you the answer on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?