It goes without saying that exercise is beneficial to our wellbeing and is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. Like many things that are good for our health, exercise suffers from the misperception that the more we engage in it the better effects we’ll see. This is certainly not true. On the contrary, there is evidence that the more excessive exercise a person engages in, the more damage they do to their body resulting in a number of risks to their health.

Exercise can worsen existing inflammation in the body. Inflammation is the root cause of all diseases. The simplest way to understand inflammation is to see it as an injury occurring inside the body. When we exercise it causes wear and tear of our muscles, tendons and ligaments. This is a natural process that is necessary for muscles growth. Our muscles must endure microscopic tears which then heal over and cause them to increase in size. This is the reason why it is advisable to rest between exercise sessions to allow the body to repair itself, rather than worsening existing tears.

Exercising also puts enormous pressure on the heart because it suddenly needs to pump blood at a faster rate to provide nutrients, oxygen and energy to the muscles. A published study from the European Health Journal measured the heart rate of 52,000 cross-country runners over ten years and found that the risk of irregular heartbeat increased with every race completed and was over 30% for those who had run five races year-on-year.

So how much exercise is too much? Even what we consider to be mild intensity workouts can put severe pressure on the body. Studies show that sit-ups exert tremendous pressure on the spine. One sit-up can put up to 700 lbs of pressure on the spine. This is the equivalent of carrying 700lbs of pressure on the head!

The main problem with over-exercising is that it causes and worsens inflammation. The joints are affected by this more than any other part of the body. When the joints are mildly inflamed there may not be any pain felt, but with continuous exercise, the inflammation will become worse. Over time the joints will start to hurt.

Most people will continue to exercise even with the pain, believing the movement will make it better. However, the exercise will continue to worsen and disfigure the joint until the pain becomes unbearable. Painkillers and anti-inflammatories will suppress the inflammation for a while but there is a danger in using these to numb the pain. The underlying degeneration will continue, even if the pain is masked until the joints become irreversibly destroyed.

The heart is also another victim of excessive exercise. The heart requires nutrients such as Acetyl carnitine and CoQ10 to function properly. Unfortunately, most people are lacking in these nutrients, but they are essential for when the body is exercising and going beyond its limit. Acetyl carnitine helps heart muscles convert fat into essential energy. CoQ10 is the key nutrient required to generate energy in cells, especially in the heart cells. When these nutrients are lacking, the heart is unable to sustain distress. Excessive exercise will predispose it to diseases such as irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and even heart failure. Those that are keen on daily and excessive exercising should take these essential nutrients for the heart as well as multivitamins, amino acids and healing proteins.

Scientists have studied exercise and came to the conclusion that the only daily exercise required to keep fit is about 20 minutes of brisk walking in nature. If you think of the exercise our ancestors would have done, this fits with the lifestyle of a hunter-gatherer. Gyms and extreme exercise are just a fad, listen to nature instead.