Your gains might lead to a better prognosis when it comes to fighting Covid-19, according to a brand new published study.
Researching and studying 196 patients, split among males and females participants, a study released in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle recently shows that people with more muscle mass and better muscle strength had less covid-related hospital visits and stays.
The study accepts the previous research that was shown that handgrip strength along with muscle mass were often good indicators of disease severity and how long a person would stay in the hospital for other diseases. The researchers set out to note any differences with coronavirus.
Measuring a person’s handgrip strength and muscle size, especially the vastus lateralis muscle in a person’s thigh, the scientists were able to sort the study participants into lower and higher segments of strength and size (the average age among the participants was 59; and the average BMI was reported at 29.5). Out of the 196 participants, 176 got through their hospital stay.
The average length of the hospital stay was shorter for the stronger people (measured by a handgrip test), averaging around 7.5 days in the hospital compared to the 9.2 days for the less strong people. The data was also positive for people with more muscle mass: the average time of being in the hospital for people with the least muscle mass was longer (10.8 days) than for the people whose muscle mass was greater (averaging 7.7 days).
Muscle mass is usually seen to be a great indicator of general health and possibly a sign of recovery from dangerous illnesses, the study spoke about, citing other research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
All of this is more reason to keep lifting if you are currently do so. And if you’re not, now is the perfect time to start with a small routine of treadmill walking and dumbbells. From there, increase your exercises and your weight, you will be amazed at how fast your routine will grow. And even better, you will feel much better knowing you are not only losing weight, but are making yourself all the more covid-proof.
Author: Scott Dowdy