Now, I don’t want to get all ‘doctor’ on you. In fact, what I’m about to share with you I’d imagine the doctor wouldn’t prescribe. Let’s be honest, they mostly want to give us medication ‘that will fix it’.

I think it’s fair to say that the coronavirus isn’t fixable, it’s going to do it’s ‘thing’ and spread.

Yes, there are precautions we can take to stop the spread, but my suggestion is that we make our immune systems as strong as Dali Lama’s system. No idea why I picked Dali Lama, he just seems a character that is strong, especially on the inside which is the point in this blog, right?

Okay, doing all my adventures, running 5,000 miles across Canada, 5,500 miles across America, pedalling 14,000 miles was that something strange happened to me, something you wouldn’t believe.

I’d often get asked ‘Jamie, don’t you end up sick while you’re on adventures, being outside so much? That can’t be good for you?’

It actually got me thinking, were they right? Was being outside, sometimes getting ‘all cold and chilly’, good for you? Maybe all this outside time would make you sick?

WRONG!

It was completely the opposite, my immune system went up through the roof like I was THE actual Dali Lama (okay, I just have a man crush on him which is why I keep mentioning him).

That’s not to say I didn’t get sick on the adventures, I ran so hard in the desert running once, running 40 marathons in 40 days, and I eventually came down with bronchitis (seemed like a great idea at the time) but other than running a RIDICULOUS amount of miles in one go, the adventures made me the healthiest I’d ever been.

Why?

I was outside, moving, and not being kept indoors. As probably all our Grans would have said, ‘go and get some fresh air will you!’ Little did we know, that really is like medicine.

There’s actual hard evidence that adventure boosts our immune system, I know this cause I’ve done my research (i know, I know, me doing research!). Let me list it out…

1. Movement – yes, being outside you have to move, you have to exercise. Especially if it’s slightly cold outside, you have to move to simply stay warm and keep your blood PUMPING
2. Vitamin D – you gotta looooove sunlight. Even if it’s cloudy, the sun hits your precious skin and tops you up with vitamin D
3. Improves your sleep: want a decent night sleep? Just spend a few hours moving in the great outdoors and I promise you it will give you sweet dreams! And we all know that sleep means recover
4. Forrest Bathing: right, I don’t want to get all vo-do on you, but this is an actual ‘thing’. A Japanese thing to be exact, they call it ‘Shinrin Yoku’. Many studies show that being in a forrest boosts your physical and mental well-being, and helps you recover quickly, which especially when you’re sick – right now with the corona virus going on, that could actually save our life.

I think it’s important that I share too, if you’re going outside, keep to social distancing and touching anything that could spread the virus.

There really should be no stopping you to finding a big hill, mountain or a forrest walk somewhere, so go on, breathe in the fresh air, gain some perspective and be like an adventurer, that you know you are!

If you’d like to watch me and Anna on ITV news, chatting about the importance in getting your daily exercise in, you can here:

If you’ve found this blog helpful in anyway, feel free to share it and if you’d like to buy my best-selling book about my first adventures, you can here.

Adventureman, over and out!