Millions suffer from Long COVID. While I help some of them get their lives back, I’m unable to make a big impact from my clinical work alone. To help people from all over the world, I created the Long COVID Recovery Program.
Exercise is the enemy
I’m Marianne Svanevik, a private practicing physiotherapist from Norway. Having helped lots of Long COVID patients recover since 2020, I believe that exercising too soon after getting infected with the coronavirus is the #1 reason people get Long COVID.
Based on my clinical experience, here’s what typically happens:
You, a fit adult, is infected with the coronavirus. As soon as you recover, you start training again, wanting to make up for lost time. But the training doesn’t feel quite right. Your pulse is higher, your lactate levels elevated, you’re tired for hours after training, and you neither get stronger nor faster.
Yet, your love for exercise trumps these signals. “I’ll just push through and things will improve”.
Instead, you crash. You wake up one morning and can't get out of bed. It’s exhausting to go to the bathroom, difficult to socialize, and hard to remember normal words. Your body aches, you have headaches, and life feels miserable.
At this point, almost everyone stops exercising. Some get better after a few weeks, but most people are not so lucky. They are stuck in the hellish situation we call Long COVID, unable to recover on their own.
Do not exercise too soon after a COVID infection
Our bodies are particularly vulnerable after powerful infections such as COVID, mononucleosis, and pneumonia. This is not talked about enough, so most people resume their normal activities as soon as they recover.
That’s a big mistake.
I believe the #1 reason tens of millions of people now have Long COVID is that they start exercising too soon and too hard after recovering from the initial infection. Do not make that mistake!
Instead, do the following:
Once you have recovered from the initial coronavirus infection, realize that your body is going to be particularly vulnerable for the next weeks/months.
Do not exercise at all for the first two weeks after recovering.
Be careful with other negative stressors as well such as working too hard, fighting with your partner, etc.
After two weeks you can try to start training again but very light, significantly less than you did before the infection.
Gradually increase your training load and intensity over the next few weeks and immediately reduce/stop training if you start feeling more tired than usual.
Doing the above will significantly reduce the chance of getting Long COVID.
If you have Long COVID or know someone who does, please tell them about the Long COVID Recovery Program. We analyze your situation, create a plan that tells you exactly what to do and not to do, and provide ongoing support.
Together we’ll get your life back!. 🙂❤️
Marianne & Bjarte
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