Your Date with Covid – Exercise is your best protection
From an article in the New York Times (12/23/2021):
“𝘉𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧: 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥.”
‘𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴,’ 𝘋𝘳. 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.
“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵,” 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.
This is what all the evidence and data is supporting, and why all of us at Epic Fitness are more committed than ever to help as many people as possible to discover that becoming strong, healthy and fit will only help in their ability to fight this off when their “date” comes.
If you knew that you had the power to control your outcomes with this disease based so much on how physically fit you were going into it, would you take action and start taking those small steps towards a healthier you?
Let me use an analogy – If you lived in New Orleans, and knew a hurricane was barreling down and coming towards your house, would you prepare for it?
This is the same thing. It’s coming.
Prepare your house (your body).
Here’s what we know:
Vitamin D:
There’s an abundance of evidence that Vitamin D reduces covid-19 infection, severity, ICU admission and mortality.
Collectively, studies show Vitamin D, is a far more effective basal covid-19 treatment, than any additive pharmaceutical available to date
Body Composition:
Losing excess body fat is like building armor against Covid. The craziest part? The CDC, WHO and other organizations are FINALLY coming out and saying this after 2 years in this pandemic.
The 2020 CDC Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps1 show that obesity remains high – sixteen states now have an adult obesity prevalence at or above 35 percent. This is up from twelve states in 2019. In just one year, look at the map below to see what is happening in our country. We are the “fattest” we have ever been, and at the most inopportune time, ever.
Here is some information from the CDC that barely came out after 2 years:
Adults with excess weight are at even greater risk during the COVID-19 pandemic:
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Having obesity may triple the risk of hospitalization due to a COVID-19 infection.
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Obesity is linked to impaired immune function. (2,3)
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Obesity decreases lung capacity and reserve and can make ventilation more difficult. (4)
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A study of COVID-19 cases suggests that risks of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death are higher with increasing BMI.5
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The increased risk for hospitalization or death was particularly pronounced in those under age 65. (5)
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More than 900,000 adult COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred in the United States between the beginning of the pandemic and November 18, 2020. Models estimate that 271,800 (30.2%) of these hospitalizations were attributed to obesity. (6)
Children diagnosed with obesity may suffer worse outcomes from COVID-19. In a study of COVID-19 cases in patients aged 18 years and younger, having obesity was associated with a 3.07 times higher risk of hospitalization and a 1.42 times higher risk of severe illness (intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, or death) when hospitalized. (7)
Get strong and build muscle to lower your risk:
This one is easy. A stronger you – both mentally and physically, is much harder to kill!
Improve your cardiovascular fitness:
Poor cardiovascular fitness is an increased risk factor. A study from the University of Virginia found exercise reduces a person’s risk of even contracting Covid.
Increase your frequency of training sessions:
Exercise is known to impact and improve the immune system function overall. The higher frequency your sessions (we recommend our members come in and perform their program 3-4x/week) the more of a positive impact your immune system will have.
The data is in. The fitter and stronger you are, the better you’ll recover from your date with Covid.
It’s time to mold the “future you” into a stronger, leaner version of yourself. When you do, you will feel more confident than ever to be able to deal with any and all strains of Covid as they come.
Be your own health advocate. It’s your job and responsibility to get in even better shape than ever before.
Get yourself ready.
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Ready to make your next 30 days your strongest of 2022? We are SO close to implementing a “waiting list” at Epic Fitness, and we want to help as many people as we can be as strong as they can with their “date” with Covid. Please click the link below and fill out the form to be contacted in less than 24 hours to book your discovery call with us to see if we could be a good fit for you.
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References
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The 2020 CDC Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps show the prevalence of self-reported adult obesity using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Data are available for 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
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Tanaka, S. I., Isoda, F., Ishihara, Y., Kimura, M., & Yamakawa, T. (2001). T lymphopaenia in relation to body mass index and TNF‐α in human obesity: adequate weight reduction can be corrective. Clinical endocrinology, 54(3), 347-354.
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Alwarawrah, Y., Kiernan, K., & MacIver, N. J. (2018). Changes in nutritional status impact immune cell metabolism and function. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 1055.
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Simonnet, A., Chetboun, M., Poissy, J., Raverdy, V., Noulette, J., Duhamel, A., … & LICORN and the Lille COVID‐19 and Obesity study group. (2020). High prevalence of obesity in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) requiring invasive mechanical ventilation. Obesity.
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Kompaniyets L, Goodman AB, Belay B, et al. Body Mass Index and Risk for COVID-19–Related Hospitalization, Intensive Care Unit Admission, Invasive Mechanical Ventilation, and Death — United States, March–December 2020. (2021). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:355–361.
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O’Hearn M, Liu J, Cudhea F, Micha R, Mozaffarian D. (2021). Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2021 Feb;10(5):e019259.
- Kompaniyets, Lyudmyla, et al. “Underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness among children.” JAMA network open 4.6 (2021).