By Rafal Matuszczak
Multiple studies have shown that excessive endurance training can lead to health damage. Even though sports are usually associated with physical benefits as well as mental health, there might be a thin line between where the benefits end and the damage begins.
An analysis of existing studies presented by Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that people who involve in chronic extreme exercise, and who compete in endurance events have a higher chance to develop heart damages and heart disorders than people who exercise moderately, according to health.clevelandclinic.org.
The article also explains that extreme exercise is very demanding for human’s body, especially, the cardiovascular system. It has been found that after finishing endurance involving events, such as fast running, biomarkers that are associated with heart damage are present in athletes’ blood samples. The biomarkers disappear by themselves within few hours. However, in case of prolonged stress put on the heart due to excessive endurance exercise, the process might take weeks, if not months, or even lead to heart remodeling, according to the health.clevelandclinic.org.
Such abnormalities have led some endurance athletes to death. Micah True, an American ultra-marathon runner who is a main character for one of the best-selling books about running, titled Born to Run, died at the age of 58 during his 12-mile training run on Mar. 27, 2012, according to the sciencedaily.com.
As an ultra-marathon runner, True took part in races which many times were as long as 100 miles. The prolonged excessive exercise during training, as well as while competing might have led the runner to develop heart disorders which, consequently resulted in his death.
The Mayo Clinic Proceedings study has also revealed that 12 percent of marathon runners who apparently had been entirely healthy, during a two-year follow-up, had higher coronary heart disease even rate than the control group, according to sciencedaily.com.
Even though it might seem like endurance training is unhealthy for a human’s body, in fact, like any other exercise it also brings many benefits.
“Physical exercise, though not a drug, possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacologic agent. A routine of daily physical activity can be highly effective for prevention and treatment of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, and obesity,” said James H. O’Keefe, MD, of Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, MO in the interview for sciencedaily.com.
The difference that distinguishes a healthy athlete and an athlete that might develop heart problems is how intense the training is, and how long it lasts.
“As with any pharmacologic agent, a safe upper dose limit potentially exists, beyond which the adverse effects of physical exercises, such as musculoskeletal trauma and cardiovascular stress, may outweigh its benefits,” added O’Keefe.
Professional athletes might have a higher chance to develop such problems as their main goal is to adapt their bodies to high-intensity exercise which, eventually, leads to better performance during competition. Not only do the athletes exhaust their bodies to the limits during a competition, but also during practice. Consequently, they might experience changes in their cardiovascular system, such as rhythm abnormalities, due to the amount of time spent while training and competing, according to sciencedaily.com.
Nevertheless, amateur athletes are also at the risk of experiencing health problems, as the quality of performance does not play a role in the process of developing heart issues. It is possible that they spend the same amount of time training, and they exhaust their bodies as much as professional athletes do.
However, endurance training is also beneficial for human’s body. The benefits include lower blood pressure, increased strength, lower risk of developing diabetes, and even better metal health according to health.clevelandclinic.com. Therefore, some people might wonder when the sport becomes unhealthy.
The minimum amount of time spent on doing moderate physical activity is equal to 150 minutes per week, according to The American Heart Association. Cleveland Clinic indicates that people who plan on taking part in competition and endurance sports should be examined by doctors before involving in the exercise regimen or applying any significant changes to it.
“Exercise and even strenuous exercise is clearly associated with enormous heart health benefits in the vast majority of people when compared to people who do not exercise but, in a very small minority who have underlying problems, exercise can trigger arrhythmia,” said MD,PhD, Director, Sports Cardiology Center at Cleveland Clinic, Dermot Phelan for health.clevelandclinic.org.
Even though there are risks associated with participating in endurance sports, the benefits are more significant.
“While there is emerging evidence that prolonged strenuous exercise can increase risk of atrial fibrillation, the long-term risk of this is small compared to inactivity,” added Phelan.
