To reduce your risk of a heart attack, experts recommend eating a heart-healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. But could too much exercise harm your heart as well? According to German researchers, it could.
Two new studies, now published in the research journal Heart, say that those who engage in high-intensity exercise face a higher risk of heart attack or irregular heart rhythm later in life–two conditions with deadly consequences.
“As physicians, we often face patients with cardiovascular risk factors or different kinds of heart disease,” write Eduard Guasch and Lluis Mont, scientists who recently wrote an editorial on the studies for Heart. “By assessing outcomes such as AF [atrial fibrillation] incidence and cardiovascular or total mortality, both groups elegantly suggest in two large cohorts that exercise intensity and duration are key players in this association.”
However, both Guasch and Mont agree that exercise in general is healthy–but like with most things, taking it too far can do more harm than good.
“The benefits of exercise are definitely not to be questioned; on the contrary, they should be reinforced,” they write. “The studies reviewed here, and future studies, will serve to maximise [sic] benefits obtained by regular exercise while preventing undesirable effects–just like all other drugs and therapies.”
So what did these studies find?
- In the first study, researchers compared the frequency and intensity of exercise habits against the rate of heart disease among 1,000 adult individuals. Though researchers note that those who didn’t exercise at all were twice as likely to have a heart attack, they also found that those who did “strenuous exercise” daily were also twice as likely to have it. Meanwhile, those who exercised regularly at a moderate pace faced the lowest risk of a heart attack.
- In the second study, researchers polled more than 44,000 men between the ages of 45 and 79 about their exercise habits throughout their life, starting at age 15 and ending at the past year of their life. They then tracked the participants for a total of 12 years to see if they developed an irregular heart rhythm, a risk factor for stroke. As it turned out, those who exercised for more than 5 hours a week were 19 percent more likely to develop an irregular heartbeat.
- Again, in the second study, researchers found that those who did more strenuous activities, such as running, faced a higher risk of heart problems later in life. But those who chose more gentle activities–such as biking or walking–were 13 percent less likely to develop it, regardless of how long they worked out.
Overall, these studies highlight a dangerous trend: The harder you work out, the higher the risk of heart problems. Instead, researchers recommend following a more moderate approach–avoid strenuous activity if possible, and do exercises that aren’t hard on the body, such as walking, bicycling, or swimming.
Readers: Do you any strenuous activity? If so, what do you do?
Sources:
Study: Strenuous Activity Harmful for the Heart, Say Researchers – MedicalNewsToday.com
Editorial: Could Physical Activity Be Harmful to Your Heart? – BMJ.com
About The Author: Zero to Hero Fitness
Our mission at Zero to Hero Fitness is to help you to finally lose the weight and keep it off, strengthen your body and mind, and experience naturally high levels of energy throughout the day. We believe everyone, regardless of your past or current struggles with your health or fitness, can greatly improve on your existing condition and live life in your best body possible.