I will be stepping away from the larger issues this week to talk about my own experiences as I attempt to rebuild my health, and about my struggles with long haul Covid. With that out of the way…
I worked as a personal trainer for almost 5 years. I was ACE certified (among other professional certifications and licenses) and much of my training philosophy, both for myself and my clients, was drawn from an academic study of strength and conditioning, with an eye toward things that were applicable to the general public. This was due in no small part to my own time spent training for martial arts, and my brief foray into amateur competitive MMA. I knew firsthand the transformative power of very strenuous training, both physically and mentally. I have had to unlearn much of that, sad to say.
This is not a refutation or condemnation of hard training, or even of a strength and conditioning based approach for general populations that are able to engage in such a modality safely. That shit works, and if you are able to do heavy-ass hex bar deadlifts or front squats, they will make your life better.
As much fun as playing with iron or max-effort sprinting with a drag parachute can be, it didn’t help me in the slightest when it came to my long haul Covid. The percentage of type IIb fast-twitch muscle fibers in my quads didn’t help me any when I could barely make it up the stairs without getting out of breath, and the hardcore all-or-nothing training mentality I brought to bear left me exhausted and demoralized. My attempts did not improve my condition in the slightest. It was a first for me. In the past, any lack of improvement was always corrected either by more rigorous training modalities, improving my nutrition, or increasing and supplementing my recovery. None of that worked, and I was unable to train “hard enough” to even have an impact (or so I thought).
More research is needed, but it seems that recovery is far, far more difficult a thing with long haul, and that completely depleting one’s energy leaves the individual in a worse state than before. Pulmonary therapy and daily walking got me back up to 40-50% of average lung capacity for my age, and while I can now do dishes without feeling like I am going to pass out, any attempt to train like I used to would best be done with paramedics on standby.
The models used in the rehabilitation setting have been vital. When I worked as a trainer, a number of my clients were individuals who were unable to continue necessary physical therapy, either because of insurance company policies or direct costs. As such, they found me on Craigslist, and I did the best I could. I learned on the job, and I got rather good at transitioning people from physical therapy to what I referred to as “pre-hab” (preventative and corrective exercises designed to keep them healthy and functional). I’m not there, yet, but I have hope that, at least physically, I am moving in that direction.
For those of you who may be experiencing long haul issues yourselves, please, be nice to yourself. Rest as much as you can, and make sure you are getting a decent amount of nutritionally dense food. Go easy, and build up slowly. Listen to your doctors, and keep track of as much as you can. You are not alone in this. We don’t know everything yet, but we are learning more every day, and the economic realities of so many people (read: laborers) who will be earning less money for their respective employers should, at the very least, incentivize research into timely and effective treatment.
I have had to learn not to let perfection get in the way of progress. The walk is worth taking, even if the pace is insulting to my sense of what I “should” be able to do.
Stay healthy, everyone.
(Follow my thoughts and experiences regarding Long COVID recovery in my SubStack email newsletter: https://substack.com/profile/58917637-sean-vansickel?utm_source=user-menu)
