Containment: doctors' advice for good sports practice

Text by: Tom Rossi

The return of sunny days and the confinement that continues can encourage the practice of sport. In France, despite confinement, it is still possible to go out to run for 1 hour maximum and 1 km from the home. Some take advantage of it, just to get their noses out. But with the coronavirus epidemic, whether one stays at home or one goes out, it may not be a good time to give it your all, doctors explain.

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In the midst of confinement, sporting challenges multiply on social networks. Some encourage them to go beyond their limits. A very bad idea for Laurent Uzan, sports cardiologist in Paris: “ We know that if we do too much and if we are too intense, we can have a small drop in immunity. Clearly, this is not the phase where it is better to have lower immunity. It is better to be on the rise. So rather endurance two to three times a week as much as possible . ”

And at the slightest symptom, we stop. Laurent Uzan insists, because sometimes you can be sick without any signs. Hence the need not to work too hard, not to increase your heart rate too much: “ The risk is that the virus will go to get on the heart muscle among others. The goal is still to avoid this, because the long-term consequences of myocarditis can still be extremely disabling with palpitations, discomfort which can go as far as sudden death . ”

It is therefore necessary to prioritize endurance over intense effort and exercise alone. This is what Dr. Marc Rozenblat of the National Union of Sports Health Physicians recommends: “ As we know that viruses of this type love humidity, we imagine that they are found on the skin of athletes, and that 'in the event of sweat, this sweat could very well participate in the transmission of this virus '.

So if you go out to play sports, three golden rules must be observed: avoid intensity, contact with other athletes, and avoid touching street furniture.

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