Adapted physical activity in subjects and athletes recovering from covid-19: a position statement of the Società Italiana Scienze Motorie e Sportive

Massimo Venturelli; Annamaria Mancini; Alessandra Di Cagno; Giovanni Fiorilli; Mara Paneroni; Federico Roggio; Giuseppe Musumeci; Pasqualina Buono; Federico Schena; Antonio Paoli

doi:10.1007/s11332-022-00951-y

Adapted physical activity in subjects and athletes recovering from covid-19: a position statement of the Società Italiana Scienze Motorie e Sportive

Sport Sci Health. 2022;18(3):659-669. doi: 10.1007/s11332-022-00951-y. Epub 2022 May 15.

Authors

Massimo Venturelli^{1

2}, Annamaria Mancini^{3

4}, Alessandra Di Cagno⁵, Giovanni Fiorilli⁶, Mara Paneroni⁷, Federico Roggio⁸, Giuseppe Musumeci^{8

9

10}, Pasqualina Buono^{3

4}, Federico Schena¹, Antonio Paoli¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
² Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake, USA.
³ Department of Movement Sciences and Wellness, University Parthenope, Naples, Italy.
⁴ CEINGE-Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli, Italy.
⁵ Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Italian University of Sport and Movement of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.
⁶ Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy.
⁷ Respiratory Rehabilitation, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Lumezzane, Brescia, Italy.
⁸ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences Anatomy, Histology and Movement Sciences Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁹ Research Center on Motor Activities (CRAM), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.
¹¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic illness that is impacting the cardiovascular, pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and cognitive function of a large spectrum of the worldwide population. The available pharmacological countermeasures of these long-term effects of COVID-19 are minimal, while myriads of non-specific non-pharmacological treatments are emerging in the literature. In this complicated scenario, particular emphasis should be dedicated to specific exercise interventions tailored for subjects and athletes recovering from COVID-19. Specific guidelines on adapted physical activity in this critical population are unavailable so far, therefore, in this position statement of the Società Italiana di Scienze Motorie e Sportive (SISMeS) the members of the steering committee of the research group Attività Motoria Adattata, Alimentazione, Salute e Fitness have indicated the adapted physical activity approaches to counteract the long-term effects of the COVID-19, both in good health people and athletes.

Keywords: Adapted physical activity; COVID-19; Cardiovascular function; Cognitive function; Muscle function.

Publication types

Review