Any advice on returning to Exercise/lifting, after covid -

liamtech

Hey folks

So having avoided Covid for the duration of the lockdown period, i finally got nabbed 10ish days ago, at least thats when i tested positive. I still believed i had avoided the worst of it tbh, as day one and two were bordering on A-symptomatic. However to my horror, i developed a serious fever on day 3 which last for 4 days. I felt horrendous tbh, and would not have bet against ending up in hospital. Could barely stand up at one stage. Fever broke day 7. Fast forward to today (day 10) and i am truely over the worst of it.

I wanted to ask what peoples experience is getting back into their exercise routine. Specific questions, mainly to those who have gone through this

• how long should i wait before returning to exercise. i can tell that i am by no means 100% right now. Any advice on a road map to returning to workouts would be most appreciative. If you went through this i would love to hear from you, as your experience could seriously help me
• prior to covid i was doing a 4 day split most of the time with cardio thrown in on days of non lifting. Is it advisable to throw out the rule book and just do what i can when i go back?
• i Was in a mild/moderate CUT prior to covid, Not aiming to be ripped or anything, but just aiming to shred maybe 10-15 lbs which drifted on since December. My diet went completely bonkers during covid as i struggled to eat at times, and really just took whatever food i could deal with. There were times when i was badly undernourished, but a few times when i basly over did it too!. Just wondering if i should ignore weight gain/diet/macros for a period just until i get back to 100%

In a nutshell i would really appreciate hearing from veterans of Covid who are now back in the gym. Any advice you folks could give would be most appreciated. the gym is a massive part of my life. TBH i am already quite depressed not being able to get back immediately.

Thanks in advance

cmyk

It's a tough one to answer as you won't find a lot of solid information on the subject for obvious reasons. I've looked into it a good bit as I'm a PT and have, and am training a few people with LC so I'm probably overly cautious.

I had covid myself back in May, and though it was mild enough, it still took 2 months to get my stats and recovery back up to speed so ease in, start slow, lower the intensity you were training at before and listen to your body.

In terms of food, usual rules apply here, get sufficient calories, enough protein and lots of fruit and veg. Focus on quality.

I use HRV quite a bit with both myself and some clients too and I've found that to be a half decent metric to monitor.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119418775#Comment_119418775

listen i really appreciate you taking the time to reply - thanks pal

Update on myself is that i am now recovered and testing negative - however

• I am very tired - the tiredness seems unrelated to how much i have exerted myself. Certainly a 40 minute walk, for example, has the same effect of a full days work including lifting and cardio, would have before Covid
• iv put on some weight - inevitable i guess :( - my diet during the illness was extremely poor, and my general diet has slipped badly since i properly recovered - that said i am getting back on top of this as of a few days ago

I am tentatively planning a workout on sunday - im planning some back work but it will be slow - lots of breaks. Gonna aim at perhaps 60% of the weight i previously lifted (i dont mean my 1RM, i just mean im gonna look at my last set, and reduce by 40%, and see where we are). Fully prepared for disappointment, and if i need to i will cut the workout short

As a PT, is there any supplementation that you would recommend? i tend to be very lite on sups but im prepared to reevaluate that stance if necessary, or if there is a tangible benefit?

Sups wise, prior to covid it was just

• Whey Post workout,
• Cassein before bed,
• Glucosamine Sulphate,
• and a general Multi Vitamin Tablet

Would you recommend a Pre Workout>?? i tend to just drink 2 mugs of Fresh strong Black Coffee - havent used anything else (creatine or what ever) in many years

FYI: 40yo, 6ft4, 102KG (104kg post covid) - Classic Endomorph, never been cut and probably some abdominal fat iv been shrinking for a few years

cmyk

You've only just tested negative, you're likely still recovering and there seems to be a large individual variability to that.

On the weight issue, it's very doubtful that 2kg is all fat so don't stress, you'll reverse that pretty quickly if you've started making dietary changes. You've been reducing your abdominal fat for a few years so you know what you're doing.

Reduced workout is a good idea I think.

I don't personally recommend any supplements, the only ones I use are whey, creatine (when I remember) and fish oil.

Again personally I don't like pre-workouts for a number of reasons but I know people who swear by them. A coffee an hour before training is all I have and if I'm completely honest it's just out of habit now.

silverharp

for me I found resistance related cardio hard for about a month, so focused more on upper body which was back to normal after a week and lightened up on the heavy lower body stuff.

bladespin

Tbh I trained right through it, not to the same intensity maybe (or harder depending on your point of view as I felt weaker for a through it and for a couple of weeks after), obviously I wasn't working at the time etc and it was by all extents a very mild dose, my advice would be to go with what you're comfortable with for now and build back up, hopefully it won't take very long.