You might find something you’ll love. I did, says Mel Mitchell, who was dubious about enjoying an ‘aerial hoop’ fitness class.
Having worked my way through my own journey back to fitness, I thought I would talk about ways to get back to exercise post-covid. It’s safe to say the road to recovery will be different for everyone, and is dependant on a number of factors including the severity of the symptoms.
Covid as we all know affects the respiratory system – I was lucky enough to suffer only mild symptoms but even I was surprised how much it affected my breathing and chest during exercise.
Too much, too soon.
My advice would be to wait until you feel better and are free of symptoms before you begin exercising again. The tendency is to go straight back to the old routine, especially once you
are out of isolation and have your new found freedom. In hindsight, I probably returned to exercise too quickly. My chest definitely wasn’t prepared for my first CrossFit competition back that’s for sure! It’s important to listen to your body – at the end of the day, you are the best judge of how much you feel is enough. But even if you feel like you are fully recovered, adopting a slow return to fitness is definitely the best approach.
I made the mistake of assuming I was recovered enough to go straight back to the high intensity workouts that I was doing prior to getting covid. How wrong was I!
I ended up coughing and wheezing and feeling a lot more fatigued than normal for a full week after I thought I was fully recovered.
Getting back to exercise too soon and too hard may ultimately lengthen your recovery. Start
off slowly and work upwards, gradually building the intensity and length of your workouts over
a number of weeks. Listen to your body, and if symptoms return ensure you take a step back and rest.
There is still a lot we don’t know about the affects of covid and it will inevitably affect individuals in different ways. The key is to be patient, which I know can be difficult especially if you are anything like me and are used to being so active!
