Maybe you never thought about this, because any sport is considered as being generally health promoting. Even though this is true most of the time, there are exceptions, especially when it comes to acne. I even had patients report to me that a certain kind of sport would trigger their inflammation!

[youtube link="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kMrzqahioAI"]

So there are two broad categories of sport and one can promote inflammation and the other has anti-inflammatory effects:

Type 1: “fight and flight sport” - activating sympathetic nervous system

weight lifting, running, competitive sports, high intensity interval training (HIIT)
they elevate adrenaline and cortisol and are therefore stressful for the body

Type 2: “rest and repair sport” - activating parasympathetic nervous system

yoga, tai chi, walking, swimming
they have immediate stress relief capacities and strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system, which makes you more stress-resistant

So the goal would be to increase your amount of “type 2” sports and do less of “type 1”sports or do those in a more relaxed manner (less intensity, less weight etc.).

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