You have overcome coronavirus and now you are wondering how to get back to physical activity ? At first even walking up the stairs can be a challenge. A very great deal depends on how you have come through the Covid-19. We distinquish between severe, moderate or asymptomatic course of the virus. This article is for these lucky ones who are of two last groups, without any comorbidities. Getting back on the bike can be hard but you know it’s worth it !
Coming back to race will be much easier, if you care about your heart. Too early physical exertion can result in myocarditis. ,,Athletes can be particularly exposed to this complication because intensive exertion while active infection – even with no symptoms – can cause faster replication of the virus’’ – doctors suggest. Myocardis can exclude you from sport for up to 6 months !
Give yourself time to regenerate
As a cycling coach I observe the pulse of cyclists who have overcome Covid-19 with special attention. Unfortunately, sudden drops and rises occur nowhere near commensurate with performed activities. The sooner we observe such disorder, the sooner we can react. Pay attention constantly how your organism responses to going through the next steps. Monitor your resting heart rate, evaluate perceptible effort and ask yourself if you are mentally ready to do sports again. You will know best if you face excessive fatique or muscle pain while exercising. Remember, it’s not time race, but multistage one.
Scientists from Sport Institute in Great Britain have developed a scheme that ensures safe return to endurance sport. Remember that you can go to the next stage only if you don’t feel any alarming symptoms while new physical activity and if your resting heart rate is exemplary. If you feel symptoms like excessive fatigue, you must return to the previous stage and try again after minimum 24 h rest without symptoms.
For the first 10 days you should rest to give your organism time to regenerate. Only quiet walks are allowed. Then you can increase your activity. Next 2 days are good for mild jogging or short ride on stationary bike. If something worrying happens, get off the bike and rest. It’s about increasing your pulse and observing reaction of your body. Activity shouldn’t be more than 15 minutes. In the next two stages we will focus on increase of frequency and length of the trainings. Remember that these are still short trainings.
…especially after 2 weeks of quarrantine. Here is good news, it’s time to get out for an hour. Check if you feel confident on the bike. If all is ok and you feel ready to get back on the bike, on 17th day without symptoms you can do a mild training. Are you ok after that ? If so, you can come back to your standard training plan. See you at highway !