In short, exercise can worsen the coronavirus status. For athletes and other active people who generally turn to physical activity to stimulate circulation and feel better when they are a little sick, this is urgent new news. This goes against my philosophy that burpees cure almost everything and that it is okay to get some exercise despite symptoms of minor illnesses. However, COVID-19 plays by different rules when it comes to sports and exercise.
Pay attention to your body signals
Exercise is still very important to your health. Not only does moderate and regular activity keep your immune system strong, it also helps prevent underlying conditions that could increase your risk for more serious complications from coronavirus, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Specifically, science finds that regular exercise can reduce the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome , a life-threatening complication that affects between 3 and 17 percent of people who contract COVID-19.
So definitely keep moving, but pay attention to how you feel. As athletes, we all have a lot of experience in tuning in to the signals that our body sends us. Don't dismiss persistent fatigue as a bad day. You need to be a good bodily listener right now.
See a doctor if you have shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations or rapid heartbeat, dizziness, swelling of the legs, muscle aches, and / or unexplained fatigue. Even if you suddenly feel unable to keep up with your regular workouts, it's a red flag to stop and get tested.
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
According to experts, people with these symptoms may have coronavirus. If you suspect that you may be positive, stop exercising and get tested.
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or trouble breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Stuffy or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Mild COVID-19 Cases Can Damage Your Heart
Being healthy, fit and strong can help you avoid some of the more serious symptoms of coronavirus, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, but it does not make you immune to some of the more insidious effects of the disease. And even if you only have mild or moderate cases, you are at risk for myocarditis, inflammation of the middle layer of the heart wall, which can weaken the heart and lead to heart failure, abnormal heart beats, or even sudden death.
This can happen even if you don't have any symptoms . In a recent study published in JAMA Cardiology, German researchers performed cardiac MRI tests on 100 adults who had recovered from COVID-19. About half of them had mild to moderate symptoms and 18 percent never had any symptoms. Although the test was performed two to three months after their diagnosis and none of them had experienced cardiac symptoms related to the new coronavirus, 78 of them had structural changes in the heart and 60 had myocarditis.
Ironically, athletes could be at particular risk for this complication because strenuous activity during active infection, even without symptoms, can cause the virus to replicate at a faster rate.
During training, you increase your cardiac output. If you are infected, this could increase viral replication in your heart muscle. If that happens, the higher viral load can increase your risk of heart damage in the form of myocarditis, arrhythmias, and heart failure .
Stop exercising completely for at least two weeks
If you have tested positive for coronavirus, whether or not you have symptoms, you should not exercise for at least two weeks after receiving your diagnosis. If you have symptoms, you should avoid exercise for two weeks after they go away.
The real concern is that people may have a biphasic response . You may have symptoms and after a few days feel like you've recovered. But then many people have a resurgence of symptoms, and it's that second episode that can be really troublesome. That's when they get significantly worse. As we want to avoid that second fight, two weeks of rest is recommended.
After that two-week period, you may need additional testing while you seek to resume your normal activity.
Slowly returns to business after coronavirus
Nobody wants people to stop exercising forever. Everyone wants people who have been through COVID-19 to get back to exercising safely.
As a general rule, people who have had coronavirus should be closely monitored, especially in the first three to six months when they return to exercise routines.
If you've had a mild case , it's best to follow a gradual guided activity modification plan . For example, resuming activity at a level that is reduced by at least 50 percent of your normal exercise load. If you normally did 10 hours a week, you should now adjust to just 5 hours a week, spread evenly over seven days. The following week, if all goes well, you can resume at a level that is 30 percent lower than the usual weekly total, followed by 20 percent the following week and 10 percent the following week.
As always, continue to follow the safety guidelines recommended by experts for the activity, which include walking alone, physical distancing and planning routes that are not heavily populated , maintaining a light to moderate intensity, washing your hands regularly and wearing a mask when you cannot maintain proper distancing.
