If you have recently recovered from COVID-19, or if you have long-term effects from your infection, you are probably anxious to return to your normal life (or as normal as possible during a pandemic). Part of this pre-coronavirus routine may include exercise.
Viously, obviously, there are huge physical and mental health benefits to moving your body and it is important to adopt a fitness routine that works for you. But it’s also crucial to be smart to work after COVID-19, because doing too much too soon could make you back off even more.
The experts then explain how to start exercising again after a diagnosis of COVID-19, in addition to the signs that you may not be ready yet.
When to start working again depends on the symptoms
COVID-19 affects everyone differently. There are general guidelines on when it is safe to start sweating, but it depends a lot on what symptoms there are.
“If someone suffers from COVID symptoms, they should wait until these symptoms have resolved before starting mild to moderate exercise,” he said. Keri denay, the medical director of Briarwood Family and Sports Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. “It usually occurs between 10 and 14 days.” Exercising before then can make your symptoms worse or worse.
If you are asymptomatic but have tested positive for coronavirus, you may want to move sooner. After all, exercise can help your immune system with respect to respiratory infections such as COVID-19, according to research published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine.
“The immune and inflammatory response to COVID is lower in asymptomatic individuals compared to those with symptoms,” Denay said. However, it is still best to err on the side of caution and take it easy until you fully recover or in case you have a delayed reaction to the virus and show symptoms later than usual.
“All athletes and people who exercise that test positive for COVID-19, regardless of symptoms, should rest for a minimum of 10 days,” he said. Brian Grawe, board-certified orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor of orthopedics and sports medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “If a person is positive but has no symptoms, the [rest period] starts on positive test date “.
How to start exercising safely after a mild or moderate coronavirus infection
“Start low and go slow,” Denay said.
The best things to do are low-impact: think about walking, doing yoga, cycling easily, or swimming. If you prefer to train strength, use only your body weight or the lightest weight possible and accumulate from there. Don’t grab the place where you dropped your weight before you got sick.
Keep in mind that you should also start with the lowest number of reps, moving away from any AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) or HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts where you get the most reps you can do. in a set amount of time.
As a general rule, it is useful follow a modification rule of 30/30/20/10 in a span of four weeks, as recommended by this study published in the HSS Journal. This means that your training level should be reduced by at least 50% of your normal exercise capacity in the first week, followed by 30%, 20% and 10% in the next three weeks. But then again, it’s important to keep up. You may need to adjust to the severity of the infection and may require “a gradual return to activity that occurs for many months instead of weeks,” the researchers behind it said. the study.
Both Denay and Grawe said it is critical to constantly monitor what it feels like to resume high-intensity activities, whether it’s workouts or organized sports. If you experience any of the following situations, stop exercising and consult a healthcare provider before starting again.
- Chest pain or heart palpitations
- High heart rate not proportional to the level of exertion or prolonged recovery of heart rate
- Difficulty breathing, difficulty breathing or abnormal, rapid breathing
- Excessive level of fatigue
- Swelling in the limbs or muscle aches
- Passing by
- Tunnel vision or vision loss
- Fever
Ignoring these symptoms and doing high-intensity workouts anyway can cause arrhythmias for those with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that in some cases it may be caused by COVID-19 (and may even go undiagnosed or remain unknown).
“When you exercise again, keep in mind that this is not the time to feed yourself because of the discomfort, especially if it presents in the form of chest pain, heart palpitations or extreme shortness of breath,” he said. Grawe. “Listen to your body and keep in mind that it will take a week or two to regain your fitness and get back on track. Increasing physical activity slowly and returning to the normal routine will be the safest.
While this can be frustrating, use this time to focus on things that can help you increase performance and endurance that aren’t related to sweating, such as proper hydration, stress reduction, and exercise. nutrition. Remember that rest can also be productive in the long run.
How should long-term carriers exercise?
There is no cookie cutter approach for anyone when it comes to working after COVID-19, but this is especially true for those with long-term symptoms, Grawe said.
“Those who have become infected should pay close attention to their body and be alert to symptoms, as someone who has fully recovered from the virus would do,” Denay said. “It will take time to resume previous levels of activity, and while the brain may be ready, the body may not.”
Alternatively, Grawe said those who feel physically prepared may not have mentally recovered from the diagnosis of COVID-19, so it’s important to recognize where you are and keep your health care provider involved in your attention if any doubts or concerns arise.
As mentioned above, starting with a low-impact job is smart, especially if you have persistent symptoms such as coughing or difficulty breathing. Any high-intensity work could make it worse. Talk to your doctor or physiotherapist about the advice they provide for your specific case.
Above all, patience is all you need to exercise again safely. This includes resisting the urge to compare yourself to others who may have been ill and are now returning to their usual workouts, as COVID-19 affects each patient differently.
“Remember that one person’s mile is another person’s marathon,” Grawe said.