Improvement of Fatigue and Body Composition in Women with Long COVID After Non-Aerobic Therapeutic Exercise Program

Abstract

Background/Objective: Fatigue is one of the most recurrent and most disabling symptoms of long COVID (LC) and is associated with a worse quality of life. Reducing body fat in these patients could be important to mitigate fatigue and post-exertional worsening. Aerobic exercise may not be indicated in LC patients who have orthostatic tachycardia and post-exertional worsening. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a personalized supine therapeutic motor control exercise program on fatigue and fat tissue in women with LC. Methods: A single-arm exploratory case study, with a pre-post format, was conducted on 17 women with LC to test the effects of a plank-based strengthening exercise program on fatigue, which was evaluated by the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and fat tissue assessed by bioimpedance. The twelve-week program included two weekly sessions. The exercise program was personalized, considering the symptoms and characteristics of the patients. Results: Participants with overweight or obesity (n = 12) comprised 70% of the entire sample. After completing the exercise program this value decreased by 5.9 percentage points. Significant differences were found in the total [(MD = -1.72, 95% CI -2.57 to -0.86), r = 0.73], trunk, upper and inner limbs body fat percentages (p < 0.05). The overall fatigue decreased at 12 weeks [(MD = -14.00, 95% CI -21.69 to -6.31), r = 0.69] as well as the physical and psychosocial fatigue sub-scale (p < 0.001); no differences were observed in the cognitive sub-scale. Conclusions: The plank-based personalized strengthening exercise program showed rapid improvements in fatigue and fat percentages. It could be an effective strategy to achieve improvements for LC patients.

Keywords: body fat distribution; exercise therapy; fatigue; post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.

Figure 1

The flowchart of the Moreta Method.

Figure 2

Linear correlations between trunk body fat and fatigue after training period: (a) overall fatigue; (b) physical sub-scale; and (c) psychosocial sub-scale.