Covid and exercise

[disappointed101]

Asking in chat for more traffic. For seasoned exercisers, when did you resume exercise after covid? Early days for me but itching so bad to exercise. Anyone start to early and it made you worse? Stick inside house which is making me even more crabby

I tested positive last Monday, I haven't resumed my normal exercise schedule as yet. Last week I did some gentle yoga, and honestly, after 15 minutes I was done in! I felt like I could have conquered the world right up until my first downwards dog and the covid sweat started pouring off my scalp.

I've made it up to 45 minutes yoga today, and will add more stuff during the week depending how I feel. I'm going to taper in really gently though - try and keep the HR lower than usual, and reduce impact for a while.

Once I tested negative I went out for a gentle run, but it absolutely exhausted me, so I stuck to walking for a few days, then started with short runs and built up gradually to longer ones. I suffered from a cough, congestion and fatigue for about 3-4 months after recovering from Covid, but I continued to run, just not pushing myself hard if I didn't feel like it.

Basically listen to your body and don't exhaust yourself. Everyone is different. I know one guy who had Covid recently and he just completed a triathlon, another woman who ran a marathon a couple of months after recovering. It's totally individual how fast you recover.

I have a relatively advanced yoga practice. rested totally for 2/3 days then started again, but doing a lot less than usual. Added it back in chunks Day by day and ten days later was back up to full strength/ ability .

People in my running club who've had Covid advise running by feel and not expecting to get back to previous form quickly even if Covid symptoms were mild.
Recommendation seems to be to monitor heart rate and make sure easy runs really are easy from HR point of view.

I'm a runner and started again gently, even though I felt it would wear me out. Made sure I did it at times when I could rest afterwards.

It shook me out of covid, but I know what you mean about the dilemma.

Day 6 after testing positive I went riding for 30 minutes -- not the best ride, and a little worrying with the lingering neuropathic pain. Day 9 I had a training session which I still found a bit difficult even though it was only 30 minutes.

Day 13 after testing positive I was back to normal performance and didn't feel the need to alter my routine any more.