By Ricky Grabow
It’s that time of year again. Covid, flu, and cold virus’s are making their way through our population. There are many ideas of how we can prepare and protect ourselves from exposure some ideas may be folklore, some ideas may be worth exploring. Today I would like to explore the idea of “creating your own fever”. I know, it sounds strange, but hear me out. When we are exposed to a virus, our bodies will sometimes create a fever in the hopes of killing the virus.
For the record, “fever is not an illness. It is a symptom, or sign, that your body is fighting an illness or infection. Fever stimulates the body’s defenses, sending white blood cells and other “fighter” cells to fight and destroy the cause of the infection.”-University of Rochester Medicine
It is believed that a lot of virus’s will sit in your throat or nose for as long as a few days before it manifests itself into full blown sickness. This concept has led me to believe that “creating your own fever” could kill a virus before it manifests itself in the body.
There are many everyday activities that can bring your body temperature above 99 degree’s, which is believed to be the temperature that could kill the coronavirus on site. The best part is, doing these activities long term is healthy for your body! Lets take a look at a few.
Sit in a Sauna or Steam Room– Most public sauna’s and steam rooms exceed temperatures of 140 degrees making it a great place to any virus you may be exposed to. The sauna or steam room is also a great place to relax, breath, and have some “you” time.
Do Hot Yoga– Who couldn’t use some yoga? Yoga in high temperatures will leave you sweating, and you can guarantee your body temperature will rise to feverish levels. Just like with sauna and steam room, yoga could help you relax and breath.
Participate in High Intensity Cardio Workouts– High Intensity cardio like HIIT, running, or kickboxing raise the body temperature quickly and effectively. Challenging your lungs and heart also has its health benefits so how could you go wrong? At Peak Physique we offer these kind of classes 4 days a week!
Soak in a Hot Bath or Hot Tub– This one is easily the most relaxing. A 10-15 minute soak in a hot tub or bath will increase your internal body temperature increasing your odds of beating any virus that might be lingering.
Try these out, again, the best part of creating your own fever is the activities listed above are mostly fun. Keep in mind these tactics may not work if your immune system is comprimised. Things like stress, lack of sunlight, bad diet, and lack of proper rest can leave us vulnerable beyond what we can control. If you need help keeping these many items on track, Peak Physique can help! Contact us, and we can discuss your options!
We simply must do our best to control what we can! In the meantime, get in that hot tub, and soak up!
