First of January 2021: a new year is here. Life rolls on. Not quite as normal though: it’s clear that Covid-19 will continue to be a factor in our lives for a while yet. Some aspects of life may seem beyond your control, but is that a reason to stagnate or just wait for things to get better? Disrupted times like these hold important potential for change if only you’re open to seizing the moment. More than ever, that holds true for your health and fitness...

Improving your health and fitness situation is one aspect you might have thought about. If the pandemic has clearly illustrated one thing, it is that being fitter is associated with an important decrease in covid-19 associated risks for the general population. An article in Fortune magazine said it succinctly: “Staying fit is more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic”. The article went to say that: 
“Until recently, too many … viewed exercise as the ticket to a beach body—not the first line of defense against deadly diseases. COVID-19 is finally changing that mistaken belief. Now, it's incumbent upon health professionals to help (Americans) get in shape. Lives depend on it. Everyone knows that exercise promotes good health. But many don't understand just how important it really is.
Exercise increases blood flow throughout the body, meaning that more immune cells can circulate at a higher rate. Over time, that immune response builds up—with a measurable effect on health outcomes…. Staying active also reduces body fat and inflammation, which helps to fend off infections and prevent chronic conditions such as hypertension or heart disease.”

Some cautionary advice has been given that higher intensity exercise might have some associated risks, although studies have demonstrated that for many people this isn’t true as a review in the NY Times confirmed:
““Taken as a whole, this research about exercise and our immune systems tells us that “there is no or limited reliable evidence for exercise directly increasing the chance of developing any kind of viral infection … So, it is safe to exercise, despite concerns about coronavirus,” … Exercise, in fact, will probably lessen the risk of an infection..."
For sedentary populations there was a word of caution though:
“If you have not been exercising, now might not be the ideal moment to start an extremely ambitious and tiring new workout routine.”

Scientific studies  such as A Preventive Role of Exercise Across the Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic published in the Journal Frontiers in Physiology even go further and conclude that:
“For exercise intensity, a combination of resistance training (RT), aerobic training (AT) as well as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) incorporated with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) can be recognized as an optimal exercise mode for health benefits. Aerobic training and MICT should be viewed as a basis for exercise in combination with appropriate volumes and types of RT and HIIT. Activities should be performed according to professional guidelines and advice. If implemented, these measures may reduce infection rates, underlying pathologies, and assist in decreasing mortality associated with COVID-19 pandemic.”

The arrival of the first Covid-19 vaccines is reassuring, of course. So we might ask the question if exercise is still relevant in terms of this particular context. Maybe it’s OK to stay in our armchairs or behind our desks and simply wait for our turn to get vaccinated.
For those contemplating that option, there’s some sobering advice from the World Health Organization.
It could be that Covid-19 isn’t just going to go away and may only be the first in a succession of possible viruses.

So how about getting out of that armchair or up from behind that desk?

Contact a certified health expert and start your journey to better life quality and longevity today!