A Healthy Immune System FoR SkieRs

Being a successful skier and staying healthy go hand in hand. Our sport is so physically demanding that a skier at any age can have a weakened immune system from intense training, racing, or travel and easily succumb to illness.  

One important piece of information I try to teach young skiers is that we should never train or race when we are sick. A skier will never race to their potential even while fighting the smallest of colds and continuing to race or exercise when you are sick can have long lasting negative effects on your fitness.  It’s a tough lesson for any skier to learn but being honest about your health and taking time to fully recover before intense activity will only lead to increased fitness in the future and longevity in the sport. 

Recently the US Ski Team nutritionists and coaches have started using a new mantra to get an important lesson across to athletes:

This might sound like it over-simplifies things but it’s actually true. Getting enough sleep and eating well trump any kind of supplementation, recovery methods, or immune system boosting tricks. 

“I personally have made it through entire seasons without getting sick at all, and then some years I would get sick two to three times. I learned a lot on what not to do in the years I couldn’t seem to get healthy. Racing fast when it counts is the main goal for anyone’s race season, which means being fit and healthy when it matters. Sleep is the best supplement in your back pocket for staying healthy and skiing fast” – John Wessling 

“Prioritizing at least eight hours of sleep each night is one of the easiest ways to arm your body against germs and illness. However, sleep is also one of the first things that gets sacrificed when work, holiday social gatherings or other to-dos fall on your plate. If you can’t get at least eight hours of sleep, don’t underestimate the effectiveness of a 15-minute power nap. Trade your Instagram scrolling time for a quick snooze and give your body the time and space to re-charge both mentally and physically so its ready to fight off that workplace cold or airplane flu. Restless sleeper? Even prioritizing eight hours off devices and horizontal allows your body to re-build and re-set.” – Erika Flowers

The nutrition part of staying healthy is a broad subject but can also be approached in a simple way for athletes. Working in a calorie deficit (burning more calories than you are consuming) is a perfect recipe for a weakened immune system. 

New studies are also linking carbohydrate consumption and immune function, something particularly important for endurance athletes during the race season. Trying to race without enough carbohydrates stored in your system can be detrimental to performance and health. The best way for skiers to approach this is by focusing on micro-fueling throughout the day. This means carbohydrate rich snacks right after training and racing. 

If a skier is going to make nutrition a priority in order to stay healthy during the season they can’t ignore the importance of hydration. 

“It’s easy to get slightly dehydrated in the winter months with colder temperatures compared to the summer. One of my favorite winter habits is drinking hot tea in the evenings. Hot tea is good for your health and it will help keep you hydrated- that’s an easy win-win.” – John Wessling

“Drinking water is probably the germ-fighting tactic I am the worst at executing but it is also one of the easiest things you can do to stay healthy all winter. A few years ago I made hydrating and drinking at least 64oz of water each day my number one priority. That winter was also the first winter I stayed healthy from the first November snowfall to the last day of spring skiing in April. I recognize you can’t build a research study off of one athlete’s experience but water is crucial to the proper functioning of cells and the healthier the cells and germ fighters in your body the less likely they are to succumb to pathogens.” Erika Flowers 

It’s easy for less experienced skiers to take down a lot of water to hydrate OR sugary sports drink. A better option is finding an electrolyte mix that you like that is low in sugar but will still hydrate you for daily, non-training use. Nuun makes a lot of good options as well as Skratch. It’s a great idea to make sure you are hydrated especially during times of travel and racing when your immune system will be compromised.

Sleep and nutrition are by far the most important but as you know skiers don’t live in bubbles and the race season also means travel season. Here are some tips for skiers who will be traveling to racing in the coming months. 

Wash hands often – “whether it’s shaking hands, touching door handles, or grabbing the local restaurant’s pen to sign a check- we are all susceptible to some illness going around town. Washing your hands often will help keep you healthy and help keep the germs away.” - John Wessling

Avoid touching your face: One of the things I vividly remember from my first Olympic Games was standing in the dining hall in the Olympic village and realizing that thousands of athletes from all around the World were going in and out of the same door every day. Touching the same door handle, grabbing the same railings, and touching the same serving utensils. Once you get over the grossness of it you begin to train yourself to avoid this contact. Sliding your sleeve over your hand to open a door, hitting the elevator button with your elbow rather than your hand, avoid holding onto railings, all these things that sound neurotic but for a skier that needs to stay healthy can be very helpful. Also just getting in the habit of never touching your face. 

The most common way of picking up a cold is through your nose and mouth but by coating your nasal passageways with zinc (I use the Zicam swabs) and your throat (some kind of zinc drop) you greatly decrease the chances of a rhinovirus attaching and multiplying in your system.  This becomes even more important during the winter when our airways are additionally compromised from intense race breathing. I will usually hit the zinc the morning before big travel days or before being around big groups of people in the winter.

Stay Dry: Constantly changing your clothes is a habit that all skiers should get in. As soon as an athlete is done working-out they should at the very least change into a dry shirt and jacket. Take it one step further and do a full sock change too. 

“Most female athletes do not get enough vitamin D naturally, however the “sunshine” supplement contributes to mood, helps with muscle repair and boosts immune function among a host of other benefits. Many cross-country skiers live in the northern latitudes where natural sunlight during the winter is limited. Plus vitamin D supplements come in tasty gummy form these days so it’s an easy addition to your every day routine. If you don’t already take a vitamin D supplement consider adding this to your winter “health-boosting” regimen. *Note I am not a nutritionist or health professional but basing this recommendation off of conversations with licensed professionals, current peer-reviewed scientific research and my own experiences.” – Erika Flowers