Research
Energy balance
Prolonged physical inactivity during lockdowns causes adverse metabolic and structural health changes, including insulin resistance, muscle atrophy, bone loss, and increased cardiovascular risk.
You must move to avoid health deterioration. If you cannot go outside, do indoor exercises like bodyweight squats, pushups, or stair climbing. Use resistance bands if available. Aim for moderate intensity for at least 150 minutes per week.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
the combination of abrupt interruption of physical exercise and prolonged inactivity may promote many adverse health changes, including development of insulin resistance, muscle atrophy and bone loss, decreased aerobic capacity, increased blood pressure and heart frequency, fatty liver disease and/or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, dyslipidemia, as well as higher risk of collapsing upon resuming exercise
Why this rating
Opinion paper citing observational and mechanistic studies; not a primary clinical trial.
Source
Health risks and potential remedies during prolonged lockdowns for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Giuseppe Lippi et al. · Diagnosis · 2020
DOI 10.1515/dx-2020-0041
narrative_reviewCited 365×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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