How to Return to Exercise After Contracting Covid-19
So, you’ve had Covid-19. It’s knocked you around, thrown you out of your routine, and wrecked you physically. But now you’re better and ready to get back into life. A priority is to get back into your regular exercise routine. But how should you go about it? Let’s find out.
What You Need to Know About Working Out Post Covid
When you are returning to an exercise program after having Covid, you have a heightened risk of developing complications such as myocarditis, where the heart becomes inflamed. If you have suffered from what they are classifying as long haul covid, your symptoms will be more prolonged and your risk of complications higher.
Covid-19 is a serious illness. Even if you had a relatively mild case, you need to take the condition seriously. Before returning to any exercise program, therefore, you should consult with your medical professional, letting him know exactly what type of exercise you intend to do.
Advice from the Experts
In August of 2020, the New York based Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) had its sports medicine physicians release some guidelines regarding returning to exercise post-Covid for recreational exercisers. The main thing that these experts stressed was that each person is unique and we will all experience Covid in slightly different ways. We will all experience different rates of recovery from Covid as well. This makes it impossible to give a standard length of time after you are Covid negative before you should go back to working out.
The HSS guidelines included the following recommendations…
Do not begin exercising if you have persistent fever, chest pain, or cough.
If you are otherwise healthy and have been asymptomatic for at least 7 days, you can return to exercise.
Move back into your exercise program slowly and cautiously.
Start with just 50 percent of your previous volume and intensity.
Keeping in mind that we all have different rates of recovery, a resumption rate of 50 percent of your previous activity level may be too much for some people.
The HHS guidelines were put out before the emergence of the delta and omicron strains of the virus but are equally applicable to covid cases caused by those strains.
If you are going to work out in a gym or other indoor environment, you should wear a mask if required by the current restrictions and practice social distancing.
A Sample Reintroduction Program
The CDC has provided suggestions of how to get back into exercise after Covid. They recommend beginning with light walking, gradually increasing your walking volume and speed. After a couple of weeks with no problems, you can slightly increase the intensity of the cardio by using a treadmill, rowing machine, or other piece of cardio equipment.
At the same time that you are stepping up your cardio intensity, you may start with light strength training on the days that you are not doing your cardio. Begin with a 50 percent reduction of your pre-Covid strength training workload. Each week increase by 10% so that by the 6th week you are working out at your previous level.
Key Points
Take it slowly
Consult your doctor
Start back 7 days after being asymptomatic
Start with light walking
Increase cardio progressively
Resume strength training at 50 percent of the previous level and increase by 10 percent weekly
