Share your experience:returning to exercise after recovering from COVID

Anasqarman

I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy. Last week l tested positive for COVID, today is my fifth day of infection, I ended up with a nasty inflammation of my sinus and throat, by far, today is my best day and I hope within 5 or 7 days I will be fully recovered. Before getting sickI used to regularly exercise 3 days a week, a combination of cardio and resistance and I can't wait to get back to my routines.

Please share your experiences on how you managed to get back to the gym. How much time did you wait, frequency, intensity and any other useful tips that helped to resume

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience 😊

barefootbridgey

I tested positive about a month ago. I am vaccinated/boosted, and really only had one bad day, which was a Monday, and then I started feeling better as the week went on. I did work out a little bit during my sick time, but not much. I did my regular lifts, but slowly and took out all ab and cardio work, other than casually pedaling on my spin bike while watchin TV. I did that 3 time the week I was sick. The following week, I felt recovered and went back to a normal-ish routine. Normally I do 3 days of weight training with 15-20 minutes of cardio at the end, 2 days of cardio (30-45) minutes and a Saturday morning 60 min cardio class. My first week post covid, I think I only did 5 days, and lower intensity for all of them.

And I'll tell you what - it was hard. My heart rate was much higher during exercise than what is normal for me and I could tell that even less intense workouts were a lot more difficult for me. I had to take more breaks, but I completed them. By the second week post covid I was pretty much back to normal. I was lectured by my friends about working out while I had covid, but it honestly helped me feel better.

cwolfman13

I had COVID in early January. I had moderate symptoms...pretty sick for about 2 days and then things cleared up pretty quickly. For a week or so (including the 2 days I was actually sick) I was pretty fatigued, especially in the afternoons. I did have a mild, but persistent cough that took a few weeks to get rid of. Strenuous cardiovascular exercise exacerbated that issue, so I didn't do much more than go for walks for all of January. I didn't really have any issues in the weight room after the initial week.

MikePfirrman

I've had Covid once for sure after being double vaxxed, but I also had a very, very nasty flu at the very beginning of the pandemic (after flying to my stepson's wedding) and I honestly suspect it was Covid.

At that time, even after getting over that flu (or whatever it was), my heart rate was ridiculously high. I do cardio six to seven hours a week and really know my HR well. This was crazy it was so high with little actual work. It took around a month to settle back to more normal rates.

My strong recommendation would be just to be very cautious and slowly work back into it.

AnnPT77

This essay, from an elite (one of the top on-water rowers in the world, Olympic medalist, someone I know IRL and trust for accuracy) might suggest some insights:

https://medium.com/classroom-champions/my-covid-experience-dae2cade00c3

xxzenabxx

I had COVID for three weeks last October/November. I think it may be the reason why even now I can’t seem to get back into my fitness like before. Apparently it can take up to a year for some people to get their fitness back (to pre-Covid levels) and I’m probably one of them. I can walk 8000-10000 steps, do light weights a little yoga and Pilates but anything strenuous makes my heart rate high and I struggle to breathe. I’m glad I’m not the only one and it’s a good reminder for me to take things slow. I’m definitely improving but veeeery slowly.