Too much training at some point becomes counterproductive. That is, there is a boomerang threshold beyond which the benefits of physical activity are likely to turn into dangers for health. A completely individual point at which physical exercise becomes too much for a long time. But what is the point where too much training becomes dangerous to health? And how to recognize this limitation?
Too much training: here’s how to recognize the limit
This was the question asked by a group of Danish researchers, who published a 30-year study on longevity of men and women who are passionate about running: who runs no more than 2 and a half hours a week would live on average about 6 years longer of those who train more and with greater intensity. A case? Maybe not, if another group of researchers, this time from Swedenfound that cross-country skiers who had participated in a large number of snow marathons had the 30% more likely to end up in hospital for cardiac arrhythmia.
The debate is alive more than ever even in the States, where there is a real boom of ‘ultra’ competitions: on the one hand, the vast majority of Americans struggle to reach the ‘Michelle Obama threshold’, or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week; on the other hand, over a million people are dedicated to the so-called high-endurance events: on foot, by bike, swimming, in the deserts, on the mountains and in any other place the human imagination organizes a competition.
Extreme efforts not a good idea?
Engage in this kind of extreme and sustained effort it might not be a good idea: these are the conclusions reached by a research coordinated by Dr. James O’Keefe, cardiologist at Mid America Heart Institute of St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City and published in the newspaper Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
According to O’Keefe this kind of high-endurance competitions would increase the risk of developing a particular form of cardiac arrhythmia by 5 times called atrial fibrillation. “Think about it: when you do this kind of effort your heart pumps blood 4 or 5 times more than when you are at rest“, explains Dr. O’Keefe. This could cause the heart muscle to enlarge, while prolonged efforts would cause the production of high levels of troponin, a protein that causes atherosclerosis, among other things.
So once again, when too much training is just too much?
Setting a limit is impossible, because it varies from person to person and because the same researchers involved in the studies cited disagree with each other, and the only univocal conclusion they have reached is that of common sense: listen to your body and believe what it tells you: if it’s time to slow down or stop, it’s really time to slow down or stop.
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Credits photo: Pixabay
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