How The COVID Vaccine and Regular Exercise May Increase Effectiveness

“Vaccination does cause an immune response but because we have more of these immune cells [when we exercise], it’s a much more powerful response,” says Rob Newton, professor of exercise medicine at Edith Cowan University.

Interestingly, exercising on the day of a vaccine has also shown benefits. There’s less evidence for this, Edwards says, but her research suggests it may lead to a stronger immune response, particularly from doing arm movements in the hours before injection.

“You are likely to get more immune cells moving to pick up the vaccine … but also by exercising the muscles where you’ll get the vaccine means you release those immune signals and so it may draw the cells to that location as well.”

“The key is that exercise has no downsides. It gives benefits regardless and the evidence is so strong in a range of other vaccines.”

Professor Rob Newton

What’s even more startling is that being active close to the time of a vaccination – such as flu or HPV – has been found to reduce the risk of suffering from adverse reactions to the jab. Edwards says the effects were observed simply with 15 minutes of moderate resistance band exercise, probably because the immune system was primed and ready for a challenge.

“I would expect exercise in the hour before vaccination and the short period after would have the same effect,” Edwards says. This may be particularly valuable for people who are compromised through age or illness, Newton says.

Preparing for your COVID-19 vaccine

Of course, while this is all compelling evidence, Newton says we can’t be sure the same will apply to COVID-19 vaccines, particularly those that use new mRNA technology, such as Pfizer. “But those pathways still require the involvement of the immune system and the activation of immune cells,” Newton says. “[And] exercise distributes immune factors through the body.”

Newton is frank when he explains how he’ll approach his own COVID-19 vaccine: “I’m already exercising regularly and when it’s my turn to get a vaccination I can tell you I’ll be exercising before I head off to the medical clinic.” He suggests people follow his lead: “The key is that exercise has no downsides. It gives benefits regardless and the evidence is so strong in a range of other vaccines.”

“If you’re particularly worried about a vaccine working well, then exercise is a really good thing to do, but remember it’s important for … all sorts of things.”

Associate Professor Kate Edwards

Edwards agrees: “Certainly what we’ve never seen is exercise making anything worse: immune response or side-effects.” Edwards says because researchers are still exploring why some people are experiencing COVID-19 vaccine side-effects, she recommends not drastically changing your exercise routine on the day of your shot. But if you typically go for a run or do yoga, go for it.

She says it may help to do some light arm exercises close to the time of injection – for example a few sets of wall push-ups, shoulder presses and bicep curls. “Then you might want to consider having a rest day the day after the vaccination because reactions are sometimes being seen 24-48 hours after.”