Introduction
dyspnea, fatigue, inflammation, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, mental impairment, pain, headache, Coronavirus 2019 disease
MUSCLE WEAKNESS, INFLAMMATION, DISEASE, SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME, CORONAVIRUS, OXIDATIVE STRESS, SEQUELAE
Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019 and is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [However, many patients with COVID-19 present the so-called post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Between 10 and 20% of the patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms evolved with a phase of persistence of clinical manifestations such as fatigue, post-stress discomfort, dyspnea, headache, pain and many other neurocognitive conditions described such as mental impairment, and incapacity to perform daily physical tasks [Consequently, many of these survivors of COVID-19 cannot perform their normal activities 60 days after hospital discharge [From a biological perspective, older people have shown to be more vulnerable to COVID-19, increasing the imbalance between reactive oxygen species and the mechanisms of antioxidant defense, exacerbating oxidative stress [Up to now, many pharmacological therapies have been used but few have demonstrated true effectiveness in post-COVID-19 survival and none, to date, has shown to reduce the sequelae of the disease, or specifically, the evolution of persistent symptoms even with global vaccination of the population [There is overwhelming evidence that exercise produces benefits for health in the short, medium and long term, which prevents, delays, mitigates and even reverses many metabolic, pulmonary, cardiovascular, neurocognitive, inflammatory, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, reducing fatigue and pain, increasing tolerance to exercise and daily life activities [Although the need for effective scientific evidence-based exercise and rehabilitation programs in the period following COVID-19 is clear, the volume of patients requiring support and care will generate an unprecedented demand for medical care services worldwide. There are few studies on the benefits of exercise in the post-COVID-19 syndrome in older people. The last recommendations emphasize the need for physical activity adjusted to the symptoms and personalized exercise in post-COVID-19 recovery [Given the numbers of survivors suffering these post-COVID-19 sequelae, it is not only incentivizing but it is essential to produce knowledge to determine exercise schedules that are the most recommendable for improving the symptoms of the post-COVID-19 syndrome in relation to cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness (fatigue, muscle weakness), pain, mental health and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, taking into account the differences between older males and females.