Strenuous Exercise May Harm Long Covid Sufferers, Study Shows

Exercise is good for health, but it can be harmful for some long Covid sufferers, new research shows.

Those experiencing debilitating crashes after strenuous activity — a condition known as post-exertional malaise — risk severe tissue damage from hardcore exercise, scientists in the Netherlands found.

Researchers at VU University Amsterdam subjected 25 long Covid patients and 21 unaffected healthy “controls” to about 8-12 minutes of high-intensity cycling. Participants volunteered blood and muscle biopsy samples before and after the exercise test to identify biological changes that might explain patients’ persistent, debilitating symptoms.

Those with long Covid had a markedly lower exercise ...