Exercise and Severe COVID: A Stronger Connection Than We Thought

Doctors have known for a long time that exercise can lower the risk of bad COVID-19 effects like hospitalisation and death, but they have never been sure how much exercise is needed. Will one or two workouts a week be enough to lower your risk of severe COVID, or do you need to work up a sweat every day? A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine looked at how different levels of exercise affected the outcomes of COVID in a large group of people.

The study, which came out on December 14, looked at the medical records of more than 194,000 adult patients at Kaiser Permanente in southern California who were all diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 2020 and May 2021.

The patients were asked to rate how active they were before getting sick, and based on their answers, they were split into five subgroups:

1. Always lazy: 10 minutes or less of exercise a week
2. Most of the time, I’m not active: I work out between 10 and 60 minutes per week.
3. Some exercise: between 60 and 150 minutes per week
4. Active every week: more than 150 minutes of exercise
5. 300 minutes of exercise per week means you are always busy.

The researchers then looked at the data to see how the level of activity of each patient before getting COVID affected the outcome of the disease in each group.

They found that the more active a person was before getting COVID, the less likely they were to be hospitalised or die within 90 days of getting the disease. In the study, people who were always inactive were 191% more likely to be admitted to the hospital and 391% more likely to die than people who were always active. Also, as the activity scale went down, the chance of having worse COVID outcomes went up.

Compared to always active patients, somewhat active patients were 143 percent more likely to be hospitalised and 192 percent more likely to die, while consistently active patients were 125 percent and 155 percent more likely to be hospitalised and die, respectively. The researchers said that the results were the same for people of all races and ethnicities, both sexes, and all ages.

The main point? In a press release, the lead author of the study, Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, director of the Division of Behavioral Research for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, said, “Every little bit of physical activity count.” “The more exercise a person gets, the better, no matter what race, ethnicity, age, sex, or long-term health problems they have.”

Because the link between more physical activity and a lower chance of severe COVID was so strong, the researchers think that exercise, along with getting vaccinated, should be emphasised more as one of the most important things we can do to protect ourselves from severe COVID. (It’s important to note that the study was done before COVID vaccines were widely available, so it’s not clear if the results still hold true for people who have been vaccinated.)

Young said, “This is a great chance to make stronger policies that support physical activity as a way to stop pandemics.” “Our study gives new evidence to help decide which interventions are best for different groups of people.”

So, you can add better COVID outcomes to the long list of health benefits you can get from exercise, which includes boosting your immune system, preventing heart disease, and even making your memory better. All of this should make you want to work out more this week.