It’s not often we write a post that we hope no one needs…but this is one of them!

However, unfortunately, this is a reality that many people have faced or may see sometime in the future.  We’re crossing our fingers for everyone to stay safe and healthy!

We have had some coaches go through the COVID experience; luckily with mild to no symptoms, most likely picked up from outside the gym and noticed something was off and got tested before coming back into the gym!  From their experiences, they’ve shared some feedback to help anyone else who may have experienced testing positive, quarantining and then facing the return to fitness.

Recovery timeline

This is definitely different for everyone and sounds like it can really vary from person-to-person.  However, most cases appear to have symptoms present for 3-10 days.  Studies have come out citing continued symptoms for those who lost taste/smell even after multiple negative tests, but luckily that shouldn’t impact your fitness pursuit!

Quarantine time

One of the main factors most fit, active and healthy individuals will be impacted by is the 10-14 day quarantine time.  We hope symptoms stay minor and don’t negatively impact your long-term health and wellness, so these 14-days of isolation away from the gym and potentially any workout equipment at all could be your biggest struggle when it comes to returning to the gym.  If you feel well throughout this period, participating in some bodyweight workouts is a great idea to continue feeling like yourself, maintaining a routine and keeping your fitness consistent.

In the long run, if you aren’t able to do anything at all for this period, your overall fitness will not be impacted that much.  While the first week of your return will be challenging to get back into your rhythm, you will be picking up right where you left off even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Physiology changes

Even with mild symptoms, our coaches reported quite a bit of fatigue throughout their quarantine.  Although they did have access to a home-gym set up, they still laid low for a handful of days since they just felt overall tired and “off”.  Taking the time off to relax was definitely the right move, as we know your fitness will return easily after we recover and the only way to get recovered is taking the time off to let your body and mind rest!

Another symptom that is common is shortness of breath and a change in overall lung capacity.  On even our best workout days we all feel like we could use some more lung capacity already!  Testing positive could mean your overall capacity is limited, the timeline of this isn’t exactly known yet, so it is something to be aware of and ready to work through when you return.

Returning to workouts

Once symptoms are gone, quarantine time has been completed and your test results have proven you are negative, it is safe to return to the gym.  When coming back to your workouts, our coaches recommended you have realistic expectations of your “return to play”.  Like we mentioned earlier, your 14-days off won’t actually impact your physiology that much – you’ll practically pick up where you left off in terms of your actualy fitness – However, that doesn’t mean you should jump back in, 100% speed, on your first day back.

Slowly ease back into your return to avoid any injuries and set realistic expectations for how workouts will feel your first week or two back and in the event that your lung capacity was impacted.  The best thing you can do is to get back into your routine of healthful eating to continue supporting recovery and your workouts to maintain your activity levels that have kept you healthy otherwise!  If you set unrealistic expectations that discourage you from continuing those healthy routines, you will be more negatively impacted than if you just accept that things may feel different but you will continue working through those challenges anyway!

We hope none of our members need to experience this, but in the event you do, we want you to know what to expect and understand how your fitness journey can continue beyond your quarantine time!  We are always here for you whether you’re in the gym or stuck at home, don’t hesitate to reach out to a coach if you need anything!