Long COVID has emerged as a global medical challenge, characterized by persistent symptoms such as fatigue, dyspnea, and exercise intolerance following a coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection. The protracted nature of these symptoms necessitates the development of effective therapeutic approaches to alleviate the burden on individuals’ well-being and the healthcare system at large. While current pharmacological interventions offer limited efficacy, the exploration of alternative strategies becomes imperative. Exercise training has demonstrated promise in ameliorating long COVID symptoms, yet consensus regarding the optimal exercise modalities remains elusive. In light of this, the present review aims to elucidate the impact of exercise on long COVID symptoms and shed light on exercise prescriptions that have exhibited proven efficacy in the treatment and management of this syndrome.

Purpose: Few studies that have evaluated the relationships between physical activity (PA) patterns of weekend warriors (i.e., individuals who perform all their weekly exercises in one or two sessions) and health outcomes have reported inconsistent findings. The present study sought to examine the association between weekend warrior PA patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors in Korean adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 29,543 men and women who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2014 and 2019. The weekend warrior PA was defined as at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity or at least 75 minutes/week of vigorous-intensity PA concentrated in one or two sessions/week. Results: Compared with the inactive PA patterns, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) between the weekend warrior PA patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors were 0.89 (0.69–1.15) for hypertension, 0.81 (0.55–1.17) for diabetes, 0.92 (0.69–1.22) for dyslipidemia, 1.10 (0.91–1.34) for obesity, and 1.0 (0.83–1.27) for metabolic syndrome. Regularly active PA patterns, however, had lower odds of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Conclusion Our results suggested that no evidence of significant associations between the weekend warrior PA patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors in a representative Korean population. Large-scale prospective cohort studies are warranted to confirm or refute these findings.