FEATURES
Exercise Can Worsen COVID-19....
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Friday, 25 September 2020 23:10
By Selene Yaeger (runnersworld.com)
Whenever Cate O’Shea Rivera feels a cold coming on, she typically goes for a run.
The activity, she says, seems to clear the sickness from her system. “I’ll come back, I’ll take a nice warm shower, and I’ll be breathing through my nose better,” says the 43-year-old Chicago resident....
But this April, when O’Shea Rivera developed a cough and shortly after tested positive for COVID-19, exercise, it seemed, had the opposite effect. As O’Shea Rivera quarantined in her bedroom and adjoining backyard for three weeks, she was determined to work out for 30 minutes a day—even if it meant walking laps to and from the closet, or strolling circles in the yard.
Yet the 12-time marathoner soon found that just five minutes of easy walking “kicked my ass,” leaving her breathless and exhausted. Afterward, she’d use an inhaler, crawl back into bed, and “just lay there for hours.”
By week two, O’Shea Rivera started feeling better, but just 10 to 15 minutes of walking or light movement continued to have the same effect: worsening symptoms, coughing, dizziness, and physical exhaustion.
