Since the onset of the pandemic, we all have been looking for ways to keep our immunity strong to prevent the wrath of the virus.
As per Harvard Health Publishing, exercise keeps our bodies agile, our muscles supple and our organs strong, which eventually helps in slowing down diseases.
Exercising even helps us live longer.
As per the paper published in Harvard Health, physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
The study included data from 48,440 adults and was done by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which also suggests that routine activity may help protect people who get COVID-19, from becoming severely ill.
The paper also mentioned the Exercise Vital Sign, a study conducted on more than 48,000 COVID-19 positive individuals in the U.S.
hospitals with their permission and involvement.
Finding workout and COVID connection
Healthcare providers at Kaiser Permanente, which is a large health care system in California, enrolled 48,000 people over 18+ between January and October 2000.
The participants were asked two routine questions.
On average, how many days per week do they engage in moderate to strenuous exercise (Scale 0 – 7)
On average, how many minutes of physical activities do you engage in (Scale – 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 150 or more)
Low physical activity is associated with illnesses like being overweight, diabetes and heart disease.
These conditions are associated with a greater risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.
The participants were divided into three groups based on their activity levels per week.
First, with over 150 minutes per week, second the inactive ones with 0 to 10 minutes per week and third who were variable active and 11 to 149 minutes of physical activity per week.
Other parameters that were kept in consideration were age, sex, race, lifestyle, diabetes, lifestyle, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease or kidney disease.
How exercising can save lives?
The study found that even after correcting all these characteristics, people who were inactive had a higher risk of hospitalisation, ICU admission and death from COVID-19 than people who were active for at least 150 minutes per week.
With or without COVID, exercise is a must
One should not wait for COVID-19 to witness how regular exercise can help you live a longer life.
Getting vaccinated, staying physically active and eating healthy offers protection.
As per another study, middle-aged people and the effect of physical exercise on their thinking and memory in later life show that regular exercise can significantly reduce the risk of developing dementia by 30 per cent.
