AtFruitBat
@AtFruitBat

Comparison of the biopsies taken before and after cycling revealed the function of the mitochondria worsened after exercise in those with long Covid, and these participants had far more tissue damage after exercising and signs of the body attempting repairs.

β€œThat can explain, for instance, the muscle pain that these patients are experiencing after exercise,” said WΓΌst.

He said the findings highlighted that people with long Covid should not undertake intense exercise.

β€œIt damages your muscles, it worsens your metabolism, and it can explain why you feel muscle pain and fatigue up to weeks after the exercise,” he said.


numberonebug
@numberonebug

Just want to highlight that "intense exercise" here is used to describe 10-15 minutes on an exercise bicycle.

idk maybe im just a gym rat but when I hear intense exercise I think of a lot more than just that, so important to note that no they found these changes and this impact after only a ten minute cycling workout

Edit: okay the 15 minutes is a FTP test where you're supposed to bike as hard as possible for 15 minutes, that is actually pretty strenuous.


eladnarra
@eladnarra

Yeah, this is important to stress (even with the edit) - prior studies in ME/CFS patients have shown significantly impaired recovery and abnormal muscle metabolites compared to controls in just hand grip tests, which last seconds.

There's a reason people with severe long COVID and ME/CFS often can't sit up in bed. There's a reason those of use who have more moderate disease can flare up just by walking too much. Something is broken (in our muscles, our mitochondria, our immune systems...) that can make even normal, everyday movement damaging, let alone exercise.


azurelore
@azurelore

this is me. most days can't even sit up properly. even on a good day, am unable to walk across a parking lot without sweating and wheezing and my legs giving way.

this is azurelore, wheelchair girl. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«


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in reply to @numberonebug's post:

reading the study the biking was a FTP test which is actually pretty strenuous. specifically this study was looking at people who like, struggle with daily activities without fatigue. the treatment in those cases is often "exercise more to regain function!" and this study is showing that actually that advise might be harmful in those cases

if your body is recovering well from your working out then there's no harm in doing it or even pushing yourself further.

oh that makes sense. that is kind of my fear though, daily activities are fine for me, I can even walk a decent amount without getting very tired, but if I do overexert, i'm wiped out for a day or two. but maybe that's just something I need to slowly work up to.

and yeah, looking at the original study, it's a ramped test to failure, so definitely not light exercise

i'm curious what intensity that cycling workout is at - you can certainly push to failure in 15 minutes if you try and that looks very different from the average bike ride

edit: looking at the study, this looks like something similar to an FTP test, which definitely qualifies as an intense workout - the goal of an FTP test is to push yourself as hard as you can sustain for the duration of the test, though they're usually 20 minutes