Covid patients must avoid exercises: Expert

Bengaluru: The pandemic induced lockdown has forced fitness enthusiasts to lead a sedentary lifestyle with the closure of gyms and parks shutdown for the daily dose of walking or jogging.Bengaluru, Bengaluru News, Karnataka, Karnataka News

Dr Girish S Godbole, consultant cardiologist, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru advises Covid patients to avoid exercise training during active infection.

"Covid-19 has several direct and indirect effects on the heart and the cardiovascular system. The infection increases risk of cardiac damage. It could even lead to cardiac death during exercise. The increased risk may extend into post infection time period. It is generally recommended to avoid exercise training during active infection," he suggests.

"The recreational exerciser, who experience only mild to moderate symptoms, were not hospitalized, and had no concerning cardiac symptoms. After complete recovery from Covid-19, one can resume recreational exercise at moderate intensity. However, the individual should start gradually, while being mindful of any clinical change or new cardiovascular symptoms. This population is not likely to require additional testing unless concerning cardiac symptoms develop upon resumption of activity," Godbole explained.

He, however, cautioned patients with pre-existing cardiac disease who are potentially at higher risk of complications with Covid-19 (e.g. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, atherosclerotic heart disease) that additional testing and risk assessment may be required prior to a return to regular exercise levels.

"For competitive athletes and highly active people with Covid-19 (with or without symptoms), an initial period of rest during the active infection and for a two-week period after symptom resolution is recommended. For those with demonstrated evidence of myocardial involvement, a more extensive evaluation may be needed. This testing is done 3-6 months after recovery at the time when athletes are considering return to play," he said.

The cardiologist suggested that healthy individuals should exercise in private environment with good ventilation and use of personal equipment.

"A home exercise program using different safe, simple, and easily implementable exercises is suitable to avoid the airborne coronavirus and preserve fitness levels. It is important to respect current social distancing guidelines which includes avoiding exercising in groups. Social distancing requires some changes in perspective while exercising. Some experts feel that maintaining 2 meters distance may not be enough when exercising. They recommend maintaining 4-5 meters if walking, 10 meters if running and 20 meters if cycling, to reduce the risk of infection," he says.