Educational only—not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Read the full medical disclaimer.
Updated: Aug 10
Before COVID-19, I could run a mile in about seven minutes. Running was my comfort zone. After 25 years in medical exercise, personal training, therapeutic bodywork, and holistic health, I knew how my cardiovascular system usually responded to effort.
Then I developed COVID-19, and everything changed.
After the initial infection passed, I expected my conditioning to return with rest and gradual training. Instead, my seven-minute mile turned into a ten-minute mile—an increase of about 43% in the time it took to cover the same distance. More importantly, I felt the difference inside my body. My breathing, heart rate, energy, and recovery no longer responded as they once did.
I was no longer just training to improve performance. I was trying to understand what had happened to my cardiovascular capacity and how to rebuild it without overwhelming a body that was still recovering.
My complete recovery took about a year and a half.
Long COVID Changed How My Body Responded to Exercise
One of the toughest parts of long COVID is that you can look recovered while your body is still struggling. The acute infection may be over, yet fatigue, shortness of breath, palpitations, abnormal heart-rate responses, reduced stamina, or post-exertional symptoms may linger.
Research supports what many people with long COVID have experienced. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing studies have shown that some individuals develop persistent reductions in exercise capacity after COVID-19. Potential contributors include deconditioning, dysfunctional breathing, impaired oxygen extraction, chronotropic limitations, cardiovascular dysfunction, and changes in the autonomic nervous system. (JAMA Network Open, PubMed)
For me, my slower mile became a clear marker. It didn’t define my health, but it indicated that my physical capacity had changed. I couldn’t safely build my recovery program around what my body had been capable of before COVID.
I had to start with the body I had that day—not the one I remembered from before the illness.
My Recovery Was Measured, Not Rushed
There was no magic exercise, treatment, supplement, or device that instantly restored my cardiovascular capacity. I created a balanced health and exercise prescription that combined carefully managed cardiovascular training, strength and mobility work, nutrition, sleep, stress regulation, restorative care, and autonomic nervous system support.
The goal wasn’t to force my way back to a seven-minute mile. Instead, I aimed to provide enough stimulus for my body to adapt without exceeding its ability to recover.
I used a heart-rate monitor during my runs and conditioning sessions. Pace alone couldn’t tell me what was happening. Two runs might look similar on paper while producing very different heart-rate responses, breathing demands, fatigue levels, and recovery needs.
I also tracked my routes, repeating the same courses whenever possible. Keeping the distance, hills, terrain, and general environment consistent reduced the number of changing variables. If I completed the same route at a similar pace with a lower heart rate, more controlled breathing, or faster recovery, I had clearer evidence that my capacity was improving.
That became one of my most valuable recovery principles:
When you keep the variables consistent, meaningful change becomes easier to see.
I wasn’t trying to win every workout. I was gathering information. I monitored pace, heart rate, perceived exertion, breathing, energy, and how I felt later that day and the following day.
That delayed measurement was especially important. A workout can feel manageable while it’s happening but still contribute to a symptom flare afterward. Some people with long COVID experience post-exertional symptom exacerbation, meaning that physical or mental effort can worsen symptoms hours or even days later. This is why long COVID exercise cannot be reduced to “push harder” or “just get back in shape.”
The Nine-Month Turning Point: Hills and Stairs
At around nine months, I reached a significant turning point. My body had developed enough stability and capacity for me to carefully reintroduce hill sprints and stair training.
These weren’t the first tools I used, and I didn’t return to them at my former intensity. I introduced them only after months of lower-intensity conditioning, consistent measurement, and observing how my body responded during and after exercise.
Hills and stairs allowed me to create a greater cardiovascular and muscular demand over shorter periods. I could use the same hill or staircase and compare one session with another. Was my breathing more controlled? Was my heart rate responding more appropriately? Could I recover more quickly between efforts? Did I tolerate the session without experiencing a setback later?
Over time, these short, controlled bouts helped me rebuild my working capacity. They challenged my cardiovascular system, legs, lungs, and nervous system without requiring prolonged high-intensity exercise.
Adding hills and stairs felt like reclaiming part of myself, but it also demanded restraint. Feeling better didn’t mean I was fully recovered. I still progressed one variable at a time and allowed adequate recovery between harder sessions.
My experience doesn’t mean that everyone with long COVID should perform hill sprints. Vigorous exercise may be inappropriate for someone experiencing post-exertional symptom exacerbation, dysautonomia, chest pain, fainting, uncontrolled heart-rate changes, myocarditis, or other cardiovascular complications. The American Heart Association emphasizes that exercise plans for long COVID must account for different symptom patterns and individual responses. (American Heart Association)
For me, hills and stairs were a later-stage progression in an 18-month recovery—not a starting prescription.
How Dolphin MPS VNS Fit Into My Recovery
Another component of my personal recovery plan was Dolphin MPS vagus nerve stimulation. The vagus nerve is a major communication pathway within the autonomic nervous system and helps influence heart rate, breathing, digestion, immune signaling, and the shift between stress and recovery.
Autonomic dysfunction has been identified in some people with long COVID, although it doesn’t explain every case. Researchers are investigating noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation as a potential supportive approach for persistent symptoms. Early pilot research has reported possible improvements in areas including fatigue, sleep, mood, and cognitive symptoms, but the evidence remains preliminary, and larger controlled studies are needed. (PubMed, NCBI Bookshelf)
I used Dolphin MPS VNS as one part of my overall prescription—not as a stand-alone cure. The device didn’t replace progressive conditioning, recovery, nutrition, sleep, or careful observation. It was one tool I used to support nervous-system regulation while rebuilding my cardiovascular capacity.
I can say that the Dolphin Neurostim was part of my personal recovery experience. I can’t claim that it independently caused my recovery or guarantee that another person will experience the same outcome.
Explore the Dolphin Neurostim
If you’re exploring noninvasive tools for nervous-system regulation, pain management, or recovery, you can learn more about the device I used during my long COVID journey.
Affiliate disclosure: This is an affiliate link. Health and Exercise Prescriptions® may receive a commission if you make a purchase through this link, at no additional cost to you. My recommendation reflects my professional experience and personal use of the device; it is not a promise or guarantee of results.
What My Ten-Minute Mile Taught Me
Initially, I viewed my slower mile as a problem to fix. Over time, I began to see it as communication from my body.
It told me that healing was still happening. It showed me that my previous performance level wasn’t an appropriate starting point. Most importantly, it reminded me that health is larger than speed.
A well-designed health and exercise prescription creates enough stimulus to support adaptation without overwhelming a person’s present recovery capacity. Depending on the individual, it may include cardiovascular conditioning, strength, balance, mobility, breathing, nutrition, restorative therapies, and autonomic regulation.
My mile time mattered, but it was only one measurement. My heart rate, breathing, energy, recovery time, and ability to return to activity without causing a setback mattered just as much.
The slower mile was not failure. It was information.
Rebuilding Trust Through a Personalized Health Prescription
My recovery required about 18 months of patience, professional knowledge, experimentation, and humility. I had to stop comparing my recovering body with my pre-COVID body.
This experience made me a more attentive practitioner. I now understand how frustrating it is when effort and performance no longer match. I understand the temptation to push harder because slowing down feels like losing ground. I also understand why a structured, individualized plan can matter so much.
Recovery isn’t always a straight line back to who you were. Sometimes it’s the careful construction of a new relationship with your health—one mile, one breath, and one informed decision at a time.
If long COVID, illness, injury, or prolonged inactivity has changed your exercise capacity, you don’t have to force yourself into a generic fitness program. A personalized health and exercise prescription can help establish a safer, measurable, and more structured starting point.
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Important Medical Disclaimer
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or rehabilitation advice. Consult your physician or qualified healthcare provider before starting or changing an exercise program—especially if you have pain, injuries, long COVID, chest pain, heart palpitations, fainting, unusual shortness of breath, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, or other medical conditions. Stop any activity that causes sharp pain, dizziness, chest discomfort, or unusual shortness of breath.
Author Bio
Jaime Hernandez is a certified health and wellness professional with 25 years of expertise in medical exercise, personal training, therapeutic bodywork, massage, and holistic fitness. He is the founder and Executive Coach of Health and Exercise Prescriptions® in Bellingham, WA, where he develops personalized health and wellness plans designed to help individuals improve strength, mobility, and overall well-being across all stages of life.
Jaime holds certifications as a Medical Exercise Specialist, Licensed Massage Therapist #MA60804408, and trainer in Yoga, Pilates, and Craniosacral Therapy, combining multiple modalities to support post-rehabilitation recovery, preventive health, and functional movement optimization. His approach blends science-based exercise prescription with therapeutic practice to help clients prevent disease, manage chronic conditions, and achieve their health goals.
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