Many people who had the virus will tell you that they feel better, but still get tired very quickly. Local biokineticist Harry Wiltshire said the role of a biokineticist is on the rehabilitative side.
They focus on and monitor the cardiac, pulmonary and muscular systems. “This involves specific testing and intervention in the recovery of patients back into normal activity and active lifestyles. It may be a person who wants to garden again, someone who just wants to return to a physical occupation, a weekend warrior who wants to cycle again or an elite athlete who needs to return to full participation,” he said.
‘The big takeaways from this pandemic for me so far are how innovative and adaptable people can be’
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Wiltshire implemented his own form of online training and rehabilitation during level 5 lockdown which he continues to use with certain high-risk patients/ clients and persons farther away. He also duplicated the practice/gym into various spaces to facilitate social distancing. “We are also fogging and sanitising almost constantly,” he said.
His advice to Covid-19 patients is to firstly get medical clearance to exercise, and then to get assessed as to where the weaknesses and deficits are. “Then very slowly implement an exercise regimen with stretching, breathing and low-intensity walking. Once you have started seeing the adaptations, look to progress the programme slowly while constantly monitoring your load, oxygen saturation, heartrate intensity, rate of perceived exertion and other individually specific values.”
Wiltshire said he experienced first-hand how tenacious people can be. “The big takeaways from this pandemic for me so far are how innovative and adaptable people can be. It was amazing how people rallied behind and supported one another. It was also great to see families were spending more time together and the number of people who became active and made plans to still remain active,” he said.
