• Timothy Hasenöhrl, Beate Scharer, Margarete Steiner, Jim Schmeckenbecher, Galateja Jordakieva, and Richard Crevenna.
• Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Occupational Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. timothy.hasenoehrl@meduniwien.ac.at.
• Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 2024 Oct 4.

BackgroundEarly exercise intervention studies showed promising positive effects of physical exercising on post-COVID-19 symptoms; however, little is known about long-term training adherence and what influences it.Material And MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants of the 8‑week original exercise intervention study. Facilitators and barriers were identified via thematic analysis and compared between those participants who continued their regular exercise behavior (continuous exercise group, CEG, n = 7) and those who stopped exercising (discontinuous exercise group, DEG, n = 10). Physical performance parameters and questionnaires regarding psychological health dimensions and work ability were assessed analogously to the original study.ResultsQualitative analysis showed that two of the top three facilitators, (improving physical and mental health, sport has high priority) were the same in both groups. The respective third of the top three facilitators was (re)build physical and cognitive performance in the CEG and training in the group in the DEG. The top three barriers (exhaustion, sport has little priority, procrastination) were not only the same in both groups but also in the same order.ConclusionThe strongest post-COVID-19 associated facilitator for long-term exercise adherence is when the need for further reconditioning is felt. The strongest post-COVID-19 associated barrier is exhaustion. Availability of exercising in a group is a key factor in increasing long-term exercise adherence.© 2024. The Author(s).

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