This isn't really specific to COVID though, any serious illness can do a real number on you.

Anecdote: I'm an avid runner and cyclist, but after I had dengue fever, it took me months to regain my fitness. I used to run 10K's before breakfast, but the first time I attempted a 5 km walk afterwards, I was basically comatose for the rest of the day.

I was never an avid runner, but I would jog in the morning sometimes. It was supposed to be a habit, but never was.

I noticed a huge difference in performance before and after getting sick with Epstein Barr in 2017. Even years later I've never returned to the same performance. Maybe related, maybe not, but that's how it looks to me with my sample size of one.

It would be interesting (to at least one person) to have good rehab plans. How long did it take for you to go back to easy 10Ks

When I got dengue I was really bad for a few days but quickly recovered and actually improved my fitness/health due to changing lifestyle (so it's biased). Wasn't it chikungunya?

Nope, confirmed with blood test. Dengue is quite weird though, it's asymptomatic for most people who get it, under a percent get hemorrhagic shock and end up in hospital, and the rest like me are anywhere in between.

Post-viral conditions happen, yeah, but the percentages coming out of long COVID studies as well as the sheer number of anecdotes everyone has seems fairly novel. At the very least, even if there's a similar prevalence of these issues for COVID, the sheer amount of infections is going to mean this is a larger concern for COVID than other viruses.

People talk about NEVER recovering their previous cardio performance after a COVID infection. No one expects anyone to be seriously sick, and then have anything resembling their previous performance levels when they first start back.

> People talk about NEVER recovering their previous cardio performance after a COVID infection.

And how would they know, really?

Because it's been years since their infection and they haven't recovered it yet.

When I went to the gym when I was in my 20s and 30 I could notice the difference after a cold and flu. I'm by no means a body builder but I got to a comfortable point of weights for me.

If I had a cold it would set me back a day or two sometimes not at all but I didn't go to the gym when sick. If I had the flu even with a flu shot it knocked me off my weight routine for months. The effects of having the flu was very noticeable on me it set me back six months. I can't imagine what covid would be like.

I exercise 1.5 hours a day 6 days a week for long time now..agree colds/flu would knock me down, though i don't get them that often. I had covid a few times already and did not see any difference from just regular colds, well except i lost taste and smell which was a travesty not being able to taste all that bland chicken going down the chute :D But I am not seeing any effects in my performance or new gains. I guess everyone's different

I had Covid and hit a new all time high deadlift (515 lbs) at a lower body weight a few months later.

Congrats, I’m trying to get into squats. Do you recommend the starting strength program or something else for a lifting noob?

Yeah for sure! It’s a great starter program that I did as well. Honestly most programs are decent - treat lifting like programming (constantly leaning) and you’ll do great. The good news is with lifting showing up and working hard can get you really far even with a bad program.

Thanks, I tried it before and kept going up in weight and injured myself in college. Guess I need to know my limits and not increase with every week, rather focus on form and strength then weight in the order!

I lost 20 pounds of fat/muscle in a month from Covid. I don’t doubt the bodybuilder having serious reductions there. It messed with my whole body in a way I still haven’t fully recovered from and that I can’t accurately describe to people.

I lost 20% my max lifts after the second jab, but gained out back in a couple of months.