“Stay home”, “wear a mask”, “socially distance”… All terms that we are very much used to, especially in Perth, Western Australia. Although essential to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect the vulnerable, being forced to stay at home and live a more sedentary lifestyle (a lot more sitting around and not doing much) compounds the already global inactivity pandemic. 

Maintaining, or becoming, physically active during a time like this is well researched to help everyone, and we really mean EVERYONE, survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations include: regular physical activity, a good diet and sleep habits (something we’ve talked about in previous blogs!). “Regular exercise” can be anything from walking right through to just dancing in your living room. Additional support for regular exercise is seen with improvements in physical and mental health (also talked about in another blog!) by lowering blood pressure, maintaining/losing body mass, lowering the risk of type II diabetes, stroke and heart disease; all which are conditions that are known to increase the severity of COVID-19 symptoms. 

So this is all great if you haven’t had COVID-19 yet, but what if you have and you want to get back to your usual exercise?  Everyone responds differently and whilst some may be relatively unaffected, others may feel the effects months after having the virus. Our advice: take your time if you need to. Lower the intensity, duration or frequency of your sessions and just take the pressure off. Any movement is great and whilst it may seem like a backwards step, it’s a step in the right direction to getting you back to your pre COVID-19  fitness levels! 

References:

Hughes, D.C., Orchard, J.W., Partridge, E.M., La Gerche, A. and Broderick, C. (2022). Return to exercise post-COVID-19 infection: A pragmatic approach in mid-2022. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, [online] 25(7), pp.544–547. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2022.06.001.

Lee, S.W., Lee, J., Moon, S.Y., Jin, H.Y., Yang, J.M., Ogino, S., Song, M., Hong, S.H., Abou Ghayda, R., Kronbichler, A., Koyanagi, A., Jacob, L., Dragioti, E., Smith, L., Giovannucci, E., Lee, I-Min., Lee, D.H., Lee, K.H., Shin, Y.H. and Kim, S.Y. (2021). Physical activity and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, severe COVID-19 illness and COVID-19 related mortality in South Korea: a nationwide cohort study. British Journal of Sports Medicine, p.bjsports-2021-104203. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104203.
​​Sallis, R., Young, D.R., Tartof, S.Y., Sallis, J.F., Sall, J., Li, Q., Smith, G.N. and Cohen, D.A. (2021). Physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes: a study in 48 440 adult patients. British Journal of Sports Medicine, [online] 55(19). doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104080.