Can exercise have a positive impact on Long Covid symptoms?
You voted "YES".
That’s what we thought too.
But we wanted to make sure.
So we did some research.
"If we knew what we were doing,
it wouldn't be called research."
(Albert Einstein)
We designed a Pilates-style 30-minute exercise class.
We personalised it to the needs of each person, factoring in their experience of PEM/PESE.
We tracked it for a year.
Next, we did a
LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS
of attendance over time.
Then, we did a
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
of reasons why people do (or don't) attend, and their ideas for improvement.
We had a 100% response to the survey.
Here's what we found...
("We", by the way, are a group of clinicians and non-clinicians from the Bradford District and Craven Multi-System Rehabilitation Service.
Pleased to meet you.)
We had a 90% class satisfaction rating.
The four most common word themes were
“Movement”, “Helps”, “Mobility”, “Exercise”
Average attendees per class: 14
(From May 2024 to May 2025)
We asked attendees why they came to the classes.
Main reasons given were:
- Physical Health Benefit (38%)
- Mental Health / Wellbeing Benefit (31%)
- Quality of Class Content and Delivery (21%)
- To Manage Symptoms (10%)
There were a number of key insights and areas for improvement.
The classes were highly valued, especially for physical health and wellbeing.
Respondents appreciated the supportive environment, clear delivery, virtual aspect and peer connection.
A recorded version was a popular request (and is now available.)
23% said that no improvements were needed.
44% of suggested improvements related to having a more advanced class / different time of class.
We originally produced a ‘very typical poster’ for this conference. But then we thought:
How many of you are ACTUALLY going to pay attention to a very typical poster???
But we’ve included it anyway…. (click it to view)
