AUTHOR=Śliż Daniel , Wiecha Szczepan , Ulaszewska Katarzyna , Gąsior Jakub S. , Lewandowski Marcin , Kasiak Przemysław Seweryn , Mamcarz Artur 

TITLE=COVID-19 and athletes: Endurance sport and activity resilience study—CAESAR study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.1078763

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.1078763

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> The COVID-19 pandemic and imposed restrictions influenced athletic societies, although current knowledge about mild COVID-19 consequences on cardiopulmonary and physiologic parameters remains inconclusive. This study aimed to assess the impact of mild COVID-19 inflection on cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) performance among endurance athletes (EA) with varied fitness level.</p><p><bold>Materials and Methods:</bold> 49 EA (n<sub>male</sub> = 43, n<sub>female</sub> = 6, mean age = 39.94 ± 7.80 yr, height = 178.45 cm, weight = 76.62 kg; BMI = 24.03 kgm<sup>−2</sup>) underwent double treadmill or cycle ergometer CPET and body analysis (BA) pre- and post-mild COVID-19 infection. Mild infection was defined as: (1) without hospitalization and (2) without prolonged health complications lasting for &gt;14 days. Speed, power, heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO<sub>2</sub>), pulmonary ventilation, blood lactate concentration (at the anaerobic threshold (AT)), respiratory compensation point (RCP), and maximum exertion were measured before and after COVID-19 infection. Pearson’s and Spearman’s r correlation coefficients and Student t-test were applied to assess relationship between physiologic or exercise variables and time.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The anthropometric measurements did not differ significantly before and after COVID-19. There was a significant reduction in VO<sub>2</sub> at the AT and RCP (both <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Pre-COVID-19 VO<sub>2</sub> was 34.97 ± 6.43 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup>, 43.88 ± 7.31 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup> and 47.81 ± 7.81 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup> respectively for AT, RCP and maximal and post-COVID-19 VO<sub>2</sub> was 32.35 ± 5.93 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup>, 40.49 ± 6.63 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup> and 44.97 ± 7.00 ml kg·min<sup>−1</sup> respectively for AT, RCP and maximal. Differences of HR at AT (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and RCP (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) was observed. The HR before infection was 145.08 ± 10.82 bpm for AT and 168.78 ± 9.01 bpm for RCP and HR after infection was 141.12 ± 9.99 bpm for AT and 165.14 ± 9.74 bpm for RCP. Time-adjusted measures showed significance for body fat (r = 0.46, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), fat mass (r = 0.33, <italic>p</italic> = 0.020), cycling power at the AT (r = −0.29, <italic>p</italic> = 0.045), and HR at RCP (r = −0.30, <italic>p</italic> = 0.036).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> A mild COVID-19 infection resulted in a decrease in EA’s CPET performance. The most significant changes were observed for VO<sub>2</sub> and HR. Medical Professionals and Training Specialists should be aware of the consequences of a mild COVID-19 infection in order to recommend optimal therapeutic methods and properly adjust the intensity of training.</p>