Training in autumn and winter: How to get fit through the cold season

BIKE: How can you strengthen your immune system: go to the sauna, take a cold shower?

Prof Bernd Wolfarth, MD: These recommendations are more like home remedies, but are not backed up by much evidence. Moderate exercise has been proven to be immunoprotective. Nutrition also plays a role, although this is less about dietary supplements than a good, balanced diet.

There are many products that promise to strengthen the immune system and help with colds ...

The psyche certainly plays a certain role here. If you consume these things, there may be a certain placebo effect, which is legitimate. However, the evidence is rather poor. There is a small amount of evidence for vitamin C and zinc, but unfortunately there are no miracle cures for acute flu-like infections.

What really helps to stay healthy?

In autumn and winter, the germ density around you is simply higher, making you more exposed and more susceptible. You can try to prepare yourself by taking good care of your mucous membranes, drinking enough fluids and paying particular attention to regeneration during sport.

After a hard training ride, the body is weakened. What is the best thing to do?

It is important to remember the classic things: make sure you are dry and warm quickly, change your clothes quickly, consume carbohydrates and, of course, replace lost fluids. It is also best to plan a rest period after a hard session.

If you do fall ill, are there any simple rules for when you can return to sport?

There are a few clear contraindications to exercise. These are high temperature or fever, aching limbs, painful swollen lymph nodes, in other words anything that indicates a systemic infection. We often say: For all symptoms that are of a mild nature and are above the neck, you can do light exercise.

As a rule of thumb, you should be symptom-free for at least three days after the infection until it makes sense to return to sport. Another very important point is that you should return to sport slowly and gradually, i.e. not think that you have to make up for all the days you lost due to the infection on the very first day.