( 0 , 10 , 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 , 60 , 90 , 120 and 150 minutes or greater ). From the participants ’ responses , they were separated into the following categories ; EVS > 150 minutes per week ( which meets current physical activity / exercise guidelines ); EVS 11 to 149 minutes per week ; and those deemed inactive with EVS 0 to 10 minutes per week . Results : Data from a total of 103,337 individuals was used in this study . Of this number , 48,440 participants , which is approximately 47 %, were either hospitalised , admitted to an intensive care unit , or deceased due to COVID-19 . Staggering numbers for sure . Of those participants , only 6.4 % were meeting the physical activity guidelines ( i . e ., EVS > 150 minutes per week ) and 14.4 % were inactive ( i . e ., EVS 0 to 10 minutes per week ). However , it is quite interesting to observe the differences in the EVS categories with regard to COVID-19 hospitalisations and death ( Table 1 ).
As you can see , compared to those who met current physical activity guidelines , individuals who were inactive were over three times as likely to be hospitalised from COVID-19 , almost three times as likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit , and six times more likely to die from COVID-19 !
The authors concluded that if individuals with COVID-19 were meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines of > 150 minutes per week , there was a
reduced risk for hospitalisation , admission to an intensive care unit or death . Pros : This is a large-scale study which demonstrates the profound benefits associated with previous exercise history in terms of improved outcomes from COVID-19 patients . Additionally , those that did ‘ some physical activity ’ still had some associated benefit with regard to hospitalisation , intensive care admission and death . Given COVID-19 will continue to affect life around the world , this study has significant and wide implications for regularly participating in physical activity . Cons : As flagged by the authors themselves , it would have been good if the EVS data collected was not self-reported data , which tends to be unreliable . It would also have been beneficial for the collected EVS data to include more information , such as details about the types of exercise completed , i . e . resistance or aerobic training . It may then have been possible to identify whether a certain type of training provided greater benefits to those who go on to contract COVID-19 .
REFERENCES
Assoc . Prof Mike Climstein , PhD FASMF FACSM FAAESS AEP Dr Climstein is one of Australia ’ s leading Accredited Exercise Physiologists . He is a faculty member in Clinical Exercise Physiology , Sport & Exercise Science at Southern Cross University ( Gold Coast ).
Dr Joe Walsh , PhD Joe has worked in a number of large international research teams with study findings presented around the world . In addition to working in the university sector , he is a director of Sport Science Institute
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