IJCS | Volume 33, Nº3, May / June 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36660/ijcs.20200083 On March 11 th , 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the new COVID-19 outbreak was a public health emergency of pandemic proportions. At that time, there were more than 118,000 infected patients in 114 countries and 4,291 people had lost their lives. While daily statistics show increases in the number of deceased and infected people, and despite all the efforts of scientists all over the world, governments and healthcare professionals are facing the challenge of taking decisions driven on data that is new, incomplete or even unavailable. 1-3 To prevent virus spreading, some governments put major cities in lockdown and others promoted social distancing, banning public events and shutting down public places, including parks and beaches. Gyms and other training facilities were also closed, leaving people with no secure place to exercise. At first glance, it may seem that there is no other option, but to stay home without exercising. Nevertheless, not exercising is not the only choice for people practicing social isolation. It is, in fact, a very unhealthy choice that should not be considered. The sedentarism pandemic The WHO recommends that adults aged 18 years and older should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or a combination of both per week. 4 People who do not meet these requirements are considered sedentary. The health benefits of physical exercise include lower risks of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, dementia and breast and colon cancer. 5-9 Despite all these benefits, sedentarism is a pandemic, affecting 27.5% of people globally. 10 Sedentarism increases the risk of the world´s major non-communicable diseases. I-Min Lee et al., 11 estimated that physical inactivity is responsible for 6%of the burden of coronary artery disease, 7% of type 2 diabetes, 10% of breast cancer and colon cancers. Thus, inactivity is considered responsible for 9% of premature mortality, globally. Actually, sedentarism kills more people annually than the COVID-19 infection. Comorbidities and prognosis in patients with COVID-19 Yang et al., 12 described that, in Chinese patients infected with COVID-19, hypertension was the most prevalent comorbidity (17 ± 7%), followed by diabetes (8 ± 6%) and cardiovascular diseases (5 ± 4%). Another meta-analysis confirmed that these comorbidities were associated with poor prognosis. Data about exercise habits in patients infected by COVID-19 is yet not available. Nevertheless, it is clear that these comorbidities would be less prevalent if minimal WHO´s exercise requirements were globally met. 4 Exercise training can help fight viral infections Exercise training is considered effective in primary prevention and in the treatment of most chronic diseases, 11,13-16 especially the most prevalent ones, that confers worst prognosis in COVID infections. Thus, physical training itself may prevent deaths during this pandemic. 284 VIEWPOINT International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2020; 33(3):284-287 Mailing Address: Renata Rodrigues Teixeira de Castro Rua Prudente de Morais, 1788. Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brazil E-mail: castrorrt@gmail.com Exercise Training: A Hero that Can Fight two Pandemics at Once Renata Rodrigues Teixeira de Castro, 1,2, 3 J oão Giffoni da Silveira Neto, 1, 3 R oberta Rodrigues Teixeira de Castro 1, 3 Universidade Iguaçu, 1 Nova Iguaçu, RJ – Brazil Hospital Naval Marcílio Dias, Comando da Marinha, 2 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil Cardiologia do Esporte, 3 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil Manuscript received on April 15, 2020, revised manuscript on April 24, 2020, accepted on April 25, 2020. COVID-19; Coronavirus, Communicable Diseases, Emerging; Pandemics; Exercise; Motor Activity/methods; Comorbidity; Social Isolation; BreathingExercises/methods. Keywords