According to a scientific review published on August 22 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, regular exercise may help protect you from severe COVID-19 and may even prevent you from becoming infected.
The researchers examined 16 previously published papers that investigated possible links between physical activity and COVID-19 results. Over 1.8 million persons were enrolled in all of these research, and the majority of them relied on participants' self-reports of their exercise routines. Before the COVID-19 vaccinations were publicly accessible, the majority of the investigations were carried out in 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
Active adults had a 43% lower risk of passing away from the illness compared to those who didn't exercise much, and a 36% lower risk of being hospitalized. The researchers discovered that the highest protection was provided by people who engaged in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of strenuous activity per week, as advised by American public health officials.
That conclusion is somewhat evident. Exercise can help prevent or treat chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease that increase a person's chance of COVID-19 problems and are consistently associated with excellent health and lifespan.
The researchers also found that, somewhat unexpectedly, those who were more active had an overall 11% lower risk of contracting an infection than those who were more sedentary, which may indicate that exercise itself has some protective properties.
Regular exercise can support a stronger immunological response, according to Ezzatvar. “It can provide enhanced immunity to [many] infections, not only COVID.”
The article just shows that exercise is associated with better COVID-19 results; it does not demonstrate that exercise is the cause of these effects. Other factors, such as differences in lifestyle, viral exposure, and socioeconomic status between active and sedentary individuals, could also account for the trends. It is challenging to extrapolate the results to the present because the majority of the included studies were published before Omicron became predominate and when the majority of people were not immunized.
Another possible caution: if you happen to be working out near someone who already has COVID-19, your exercise program might not be enough to prevent you from getting sick. According to tiny research released in May, high-intensity exercisers produce 132 times more aerosols per minute than they do at rest, which is terrible news if your treadmill buddy is sick.
However, Ezzatvar argues that for the majority of people, exercise is "100%" advised. “It is good for your health—not only for COVID [protection] but also your mental health and your physical health.”
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