Have you had or got COVID? Be wary of Running after COVID and ensure you plan your return to training.
If you’ve missed days of running because of having COVID-19, you might be tempted to make up for lost time by rushing back into training. Not so fast, doing so could significantly increase your injury risk! A recent study showed that runners who had had COVID were 1.66 times more likely to get injured than the other runners.
Injury spikes
Runners who have had COVID get injured more easily. Normal time off running doesn’t result in much deconditioning for most runners. However, illnesses can cause more significant decreases in strength and fitness. COVID-19 can cause more systemic effects than a typical cold.
Runners who took several days—or weeks—off from running because of COVID-19 symptoms can loose strength, VO2 max, and/or lean body mass. However in this recent study runners with severe COVID-19 could be considered similar to hospital patients confined to bed rest. VO2 max, a common measure of aerobic fitness, declined by 17 percent after just 10 days of bed rest.
Key takeaway. Do not try to pick up where you left off with high-intensity sessions or expect to be hitting the same numbers and splits.
Caution after COVID
It makes sense that runners resuming training after having COVID could be more susceptible to injury. Runners would be significantly less fit after possibly even a few weeks, and they might use the difficulty they have in returning to running as motivation to push that much harder, thereby further increasing their injury risk.
Runners who have had COVID-19 should return to running more conservatively than after other reasons for an extended break. A piece published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recommends not resuming any form of training until you’ve been symptom-free for seven days. Start with no more than 15 minutes of light jogging. Then take at least a week to gradually increase duration and intensity. Wait at least two and a half weeks from when your symptoms started to resume full training.
