The thought of catching up with doing running exercises or getting back to jogging is so tempting. However, for those who have had COVID-19, making up for such a lost routine will not be as easy as we think.

Sports Health published a study involving researchers and survey participants – mostly runners – from July 2020 to September of the same year. Survey researchers asked participating runners whether they got COVID or were injured so missed one week’s worth of training.

Even if runners take their time off whenever they finish a competition, become preoccupied with more important things, or feel sick, the publication states there’s still an alarming difference in injury rates between the COVID-infected and the non-infected. The survey takeaway mentioned that COVID-infected runners are more likely to get injuries than the rest of the participants.

Survey researchers identified participants with severe COVID-19 as hospital patients doing bed rest between periods of sickness and quarantine. One of the findings pointed out a sharp decline in cardiovascular and even muscular fitness resulting from bed rest.

One indicator of aerobic fitness named VO2 max decreased by roughly 17 percent after only ten bedrest days. Moreover, extensive bed rest could cause a further drop in VO2 among fitter individuals.

An even more alarming situation is that other runners who had COVID will use the struggle to get back to training as an incentive to push their limits, therefore increasing their chances of getting injured.

If you got COVID before and want to get back to running, you should do it more conservatively.