Counteracting Physical Inactivity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence-Based Recommendations for Home-Based Exercise

Abstract

To reduce transmission of the coronavirus, from its initial outbreak in 2019 up to now, various safety measures have been enacted worldwide by the authorities that have likely led to reduced physical activity levels in the general population. This short communication aims to briefly outline the deteriorative consequences of physical inactivity on parameters of physical fitness and ultimately to highlight associated increases of cardiovascular disease risk and mortality. Finally, evidence-based practical recommendations for exercise that can be performed at home are introduced, to help avoid physical inactivity and therefore maintain or achieve good physical health.

Keywords: HIIT; cardiorespiratory fitness; coronavirus; high intensity intermittent exercise; muscle strength; physical inactivity.

Figure 1

Evidence-based exercise recommendations. Intermittent high-intensity interval training (I-HIIT) should be performed as 3–4 sets, each consisting of 8 × 20 s intervals with 10 s of rest between intervals, and 3–5 min of active breaks between sets (heart rate should not drop too much during the active breaks) [9,10,11,14]. Exercise intensity should be 85–95% of maximum heart rate (HR_max) during sets (individuals should breathe heavily and be unable to speak in full sentences) [9,10,11,14]. Exercises can be switched after each interval, but can also kept the same for the whole set/session. As an alternative to using time as a reference, the number of repetitions may be used (10–20 repetitions per interval) [15]. The training regime should be performed three times per week [14].