Kevin Moeller didn't initially know 16 months ago that he had COVID-19. He continued his rigorous workout routine despite having shortness of breath because there was so much still unknown about the pandemic at the time.
He even completed a workout called "the Murph," which consists of two miles of running, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 squats. But soon he would start to notice a change.
"Every time I'd go to work out or tried to work out like before it would put me on my butt. I'd be sleeping for days," Moeller said.
But the weakness and fatigue didn't only affect his workout routine. He soon began to feel it in his day-to-day activities.
"I would be bringing the groceries into the house," Moeller said, "and my wife would say, 'Really, you're breathing heavy from like three bags?' And I would be like, 'Yea, and I've got to lay down now.' "
After recovering from COVID-19, Moeller found the side effects of the virus lingering. For six months, brain fog, fatigue, shortness of breath and muscle weakness stayed with him.
Moeller said he knew he needed to figure out what was going on with his body. He went to see Vic Troha, who has a doctorate in physical therapy and is a Level 4 Certified Personal Trainer, at the Cincinnati Sports Club. There, he discovered that his quick return to a rigorous workout routine was doing more harm than good.
"Many people, especially if you're active, are just so used to going to the gym, and you just think that you just go back to that, when you can't even do your everyday routine," Troha said.
For those who regularly exercise and then get sidelined by COVID-19, it's important to discover the best way in which to return to their activities.
Troha has been implementing practices from a John Hopkins University guide to slowly get his clients from various stages post-COVID on the road to recovery.
He takes his clients through a series of workouts and stretches that focus on five main areas of the John Hopkins Bouncing Back From COVID-19 plan – deep breaths, turning on the vestibular system that controls the bodies balance sensory input, crossing your body through walking, crawling or marching, building strength and gaining endurance – while adding his own twist to match his clients' specific needs.
The areas are practiced through three stages: beginning, building and being. As one moves through the stages, the exercises become slightly more intense. The goal is to have the client returning to a state of normality and independence.
"With the approach that I take, that coincides with (the John Hopkins approach) is a holistic, multidisciplinary approach. You hit it from different avenues," Troha said. "But you don't work to get somebody back into the gym, you work to get somebody back to get into daily function."
For Moeller, this approach has been helped. But as someone who worked out often, he said he felt like he was starting at square one.
"I kind of took a pause, and just kind of chilled out for a while and gradually introducing new (workouts). I started almost from scratch. (I would be) taking walks and things like that, rather than coming to the gym and lifting weights and working on breathing." Moeller said.
Troha said the importance of starting slowly is crucial.
"Some of the exercises may seem very simple, but they can be very challenging for a lot of people, especially, you know, if you're having difficulty breathing and having difficulty expanding your lungs," Troha said. "If they're showing long-term effects of inflammation around the heart... a lot of times when that ends up happening, people don't even realize how difficult it is to breathe during the most basic tasks."
Now 16 months out from having COVID, Moeller said he feels 85% to 90% back to normal. He hopes to be 100% in about a month or so.
"Right now, I couldn't be happier," he said. "It's been a long road, but I feel like, I see the light at the end of the tunnel to where I can be, hopefully in the next month or two." Moeller said.
Troha said helping lead his clients down the path of recovery has been rewarding.
"I think it's part of why I'm in the healthcare field," he said. "You need to take people from what they are unable to do and help them to get back to where they want to be. ... I think it's very, very rewarding to see people come back and recover from this and actually returning to being physically active."
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