We hear it on the television, we read it in papers and magazines, friends and family try to drum it into our brains, doctors and health professionals always point everyone towards it

exercise, exercise, exercise

Everyone knows that exercise is good for the body and the mind and keeps us healthy and fit and reduces the risk of many diseases and illness that can arise in an individual.

How often do we hear of the risk associated with exercise? Although rare, and not occurring often, there are some occasions when exercise can create risk for some individuals.

The Purpose of Exercise

For most of us, we have a clear purpose in exercising

To lose weight
To keep the body strong and toned
To ensure that the cardiovascular system is functioning well
To keep the mind alert and fresh
To enhance quality of life
To recover from an operation or injury

I am now going to touch on some of these reasons to highlight where there may be potential for harm.

Weight Control

When trying to loose weight via exercise, it is extremely important to take a number of factors into consideration.

Body weight needs to be correctly controlled. If not, it starts to cause harmful affects. There are several ways to determine your ideal body weight. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a quick way to estimate your ideal weight based on your height. A more accurate way to measure this is using a Bio Impedence Machine.

We tend to concentrate on the healthy issues related to overweight and obesity, but what if your weight is too low? This is normally an indication that your body is not being fed enough and is starving for essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins. If you continue to put stress on an underweight body through exercise it can affect your hormonal balance and cause lots of knock on effects.

In males, it can interfere with testosterone levels and growth hormones as well as cortisol levels. These in turn are associated with fertility problems, skin, hair and nail problems, and more seriously, bone metabolism problems.

In females, the consequences can be more serious. It can cause menstrual problems, leading to infertility issues, and more serious bone problems including osteoporosis.

Most of us have heard of the “Yo-Yo” effect – adopting crash diets for periods of time. This does serious damage to the metabolism and the hormonal system. Well, body builders are known to do this too! They bulk up dramatically in their off season, and then diet down to lean muscle at other times. This sort of approach causes spikes and dips in insulin, glucose and glycogen levels in the body. This long term yo-yo of hormones is associated with such diseases as diabetes.

Bones and Joints

This brings us nicely onto bone and joint issues with exercise.

Cardiovascular exercise involves activities such as running, cycling, spinning, step and aerobics. Many of these forms of exercise are “high impact” and can cause damage to the joints and bones of the body. Wherever possible, cardiovascular exercise should be achieved using low impact approaches – spinning, rowing, elliptical machines and reclining bicycles!

Aches and Pains

It is very important that any underlying aches and pains, or problems with the joints, are fully examined by a doctor before certain exercises are undertaken. Putting pressure and force on joints that are already damaged can cause fractures, inflammation and exacerbate osteoarthritis.

All the bones and joints are linked to ligaments, tendons and muscles. If worked in the correct way, this can result in a strengthening of the bone and the joint. If exercised in the wrong way it can leave fibres weak and then cause major tears which will require surgical intervention.

Always ensure that a qualified person has instructed you in correct technique. Movements should always be performed in a linear fashion. The general rule of thumb is “if it hurts, don’t do it!” We are not talking about muscle pain that results from being worked hard, but of pain associated with joints, tendons and ligaments.

The Heart and Lungs

Any form of exercise, should in theory, increase your heart rate. The body is working harder to get blood to the muscles to oxygenate them and feed them. Under normal circumstances, increased activity keeps you healthy – giving you stronger heart and respiratory system.

However, there are certain situations where it can potentially be harmful and even dangerous. Exercise increases the heart rate and blood pressure on a temporary basis. If you already have a high resting heart rate or high blood pressure (associated with heart disease and stroke), increased activity as part of a lifestyle change program, can help to reduce blood pressure and reduce risk.

However, it also carries risks if your exercise programme has not been tailored appropriately – with a very gentle and gradual introduction. You can easily put the heart under too much stress and strain. The risk of having a stroke if you already have uncontrolled blood pressure is high.

If you experience any headaches, palpitations or chest pain during exercise, you should stop immediately and seek medical advice.

The Addictive Bug

Here is something that most people would not think about – that exercise can have harmful emotional and psychological effect.

Whilst rare, some people can get addicted to exercise – to the physiological changes that take place whilst exercising. They can allow exercise to take over their lives and interfering with there normal activities of daily living. This can cause a number of mental and emotional problems such as stress, anxiety, relationship issues, sleep disturbance, lack of sexual libido and also obsessive compulsive traits. If any of these symptoms start around exercise days or programmes, they may then start to be reflected in your other daily routines and this will need looking into to reduce any mood disturbances.

As was outlined at the start of this article, exercise is beneficial and important for health. We all need to mindful of the potential harmful effects, especially those associated with joints and with our heart.