I can’t say I’ve ever heard the saying: “At least you have your fitness…” Yet often it seems like that is what we are striving for with our exercise and forgetting about keeping a healthy body and mind to be able to exercise better in a body that will last longer!
We can all agree that that extreme levels of anything, including fitness, isn’t healthy. So why, when we start a health kick, do we put the runners on and aim for 5, 10, 20km at a time? Recent research (The Article) suggests we could actually be doing the exact opposite of our goal to achieve premium health.
Dr. Arthur Siegel, the study director goes as far as to say that long distance events could be very detrimental to your health: “My concern is for people who exercise thinking ‘more is better’ and that marathon running will provide ultimate protection against heart disease. In fact, it can set off a cascade of events that may transiently increase the risk for acute cardiac events.”
Others suggest that overdoing it with exercise and training elevates our stress related hormones (cortisol for example, which is great in short bursts, terrible to have around often) which then lead to things like:
- Impaired cognitive performance
- Suppressed thyroid function
- Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycaemia
- Decreased bone density
- Decrease in muscle tissue
- Higher blood pressure
- Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
- Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
People will always want to do these types of long distance events because we are human and it’s human nature to want to pursue greater heights for oneself. Some of us are even more capable of handling the above physiological responses so there is less harm. It’s just not the answer for a lot of people and it may contribute to further health complications.
THE GOOD NEWS
As far health goes – the easy stuff, turns out to be the best stuff. A game of frisbee, walking the dog with short busts of jogging, mowing the lawn and other moderate level exercise is great for the body and the mind!
Best of luck with exercising for your health! There are a million ways to do it, so don’t be afraid to stray from the norm and have a bit of fun with it!
No comments:
Post a Comment