There isn’t much research available yet but the American College of Sports Medicine, American College of Cardiology, British Medical Journal and British Journal of Sports Medicine have all come out with guidelines. I have tried to summarise the common advice across them all below. Please see attached references for the full articles, and the fantastic infographics from BMJ and BJSM.
Risks for returning to exercise too quickly
- Viral myocarditis (can happen with lots of viruses, but is being seen more with covid)
- Pulmonary embolism/impaired lung function
- Prolonged fatigue (‘long covid’)
Who needs a medical assessment before returning (GP review, ECG, +/- other tests and specialist review)
- Anyone who has had prolonged symptoms from covid for > 7 days (i.e. moderate-severe infection)
- Anyone who has been hospitalised due to covid (i.e. severe infection)
- Any of these symptoms throughout their illness: shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations
- Pre-existing cardio-respiratory comorbidities
Return to Exercise Approach
- The length of each phase below is the minimum, you can spend longer in each phase if you are not fully recovered
- People should be feeling recovered after each session within the hour
- If elevations in resting heart rate, shortness of breath, chest pain, increased fatigue or any other systemic symptoms are being experienced, these people should see their GP prior to continuing
I am an accredited cycling coach based in Australia. I have been coaching cyclists for over 8 years using the Training Peaks platform. Most of my clients are based in Australia but I have experience in coaching remotely with athletes in USA and Asia.
I am a Type 1 diabetic, and am comfortable coaching other diabetic athletes.
I pride myself on having a holistic attitude towards training in which I recognise all my athletes have lives, which means training has to be flexible.