Long Covid, post viral syndrome, and Exercise?

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hey Docs!

Last week I was infected with Covid. Took me out for a couple days, feeling a lot better, very mild symptoms now, still testing positive though :frowning:

My question(s) is about possibilities of long Covid/post-viral syndromes and returning to exercise.

I’m not sure how much (if any) research has been done on several months post covid recovery and developing long covid/post-viral syndromes after returning to exercise, but is there any evidence to support such a correlation?

If there is, does exercise duration, intensity, and volume affect this?

What else did those studies suggest about recovery, long Covid, and post-viral illness, if anything?

Is it possible to develop long Covid after I’ve already recovered from my initial bout with Covid?

Any way to decrease risks of long Covid (aside from staying up on vaccinations, boosters, masking, etc.)?

I know BBM suggests repeatable, tolerable ranges of motion at an RPE that is challenging but reasonable and possible. I’m willing to put my training off to the side to fully recover (because it’s more important what I’m doing years from now than what I’m doing next week), but I still want to return to exercise besides walking when possible! I also don’t want to rush into it and develop something that could (potentially) become debilitating? I am uneducated considering the big world of professional science/medicine and I need some guidance to quell my anxieties if you have any!

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Vinny

(Read this if you want? I know people who have recovered from illness, began exercise as they did before, and developed/currently suffer from post-viral syndromes. They are urging me to be careful coming back to exercise and to be as thoughtful as possible when doing so. Which is valid and I appreciate them looking out for my well being. They did send me this web article, https://www.renews.co.nz/rushing-back-to-exercise-can-cause-long-covid/ which prompted me to post on the forum. I tried to research for myself, but I simply cannot read this kind of research very well! So again, any guidance, advice, suggestions, etc. I would be beyond grateful for.)

2

Hi there,

Overall there is not enough prospective evidence on this to guide specific decision making as it relates to training after infection. The syndrome is not even particularly well-described or understood at this point.

If it were me, I would return to training just like after any other respiratory illness (cold, flu, etc.) and adjust loading (volume/intensity) based on my tolerance using a strategy like RPE. Any sort of “specific” modification or progression scheme would be completely made up.

If it makes you feel better to start lower and progress slower, that’s fine, but outside of a situation where you suffered critical illness or other specific complications (e.g., specific cardiovascular or pulmonary complications), I wouldn’t have strong evidence on which to base specific restrictions or progression schemes.

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