Exercise can damage the heart- the latest in the fitness saga

Regular readers of my blog will know I have an interest in health and fitness.

This is fiercely driven by a desire to achieve a peak of physical well-being, stemming from a childhood spent the butt of playground taunts for being fat, unfit and always last to be picked for the football team (when I turned up).

My interest with nutrition, exercise, and obesity grew after I remedied the situation in my early teens. Touch wood, I have never suffered from it again.

The price, though, is that I spend almost every waking hour striving to keep slim, and in my view, healthy.

This, I have discovered during the past 21 post-fat years, is an all-consuming, full-time job.

Not just watching what I eat, but tirelessly exercising most days, abstaining from alcohol,  and saying no to anything that even looks like it might taste nice.

I struggle to keep up with the ever-changing tide of opinion of what is good for you and what isn’t. It is something I have written about many times before. 

The minute I find a system that seems to be supported by medical science, someone comes along and says I am doing it all wrong and should be doing  the opposite.

Cut out fat and eat lots of fruit and vegetables; Cut out fruit and eat lots of fats.

Cut out fat and carbohydrates and stick to just protein.

Drink alcohol; don’t drink alcohol.

Drink litres of water every day; don’t overdrink water

Chocolate gives you spots and makes you fat; chocolate is good for you.

Don’t eat salt; cutting out salt can kill.

Exercise; don’t exercise.

Do sustained moderate cardio every day to strengthen the heart; short bursts of intense exercise are the key to well-being.

I could go on, and on and on and on.

It was only a couple of months ago I wrote about scientists finally discovering the key to longevity was the Mediterranean diet – I think opinion changed the following day.

I even read this week that carbohydrates in broccoli spell failure to the most dedicated slimmer’s weight-loss efforts.

The one thing I struggle most to find a happy medium with is exercise. Perhaps because although I don’t enjoy it, I do it most days.

It is one of those things I just do, like turning up to work, there is no discussion involved, and no opportunity to talk myself out of it.

When the clock goes off at 6am it is time to workout – no discussion, no excuses.

I often find myself on  the treadmill, wanting to get off and go back to bed, knees aching through the relentless pounding of the spinning belt, thinking “is this really doing me any good, really?” 

I ran a half marathon about five years ago and came to the conclusion I would never put my body through that again, I felt physically ill afterwards.

Which brings me to the latest instalment in the saga.

Exercise, they now say, can apparently damage the heart. Ok, I admit, this cane from an article in the Daily Mail today, but there might be something in it.

American doctors say intensive training schedules and extreme endurance competitions can cause long-term harm.

This includes marathons, triathlons and any sort of endurance training that puts a real strain on the heart.

Thinking about it, this stands to reason, anything that involves putting that much strain on the heart can't be  good, it's just common sense.

Apparently the constant strain put on the heart to keep this level of “fitness” gradually causes structural changes, with scar tissue building up and arteries widening.

It reminds me of those body builders you see at gyms who look like they have had a section of hosepipe surgically inserted into their bicep – stomach churning.

The Government tells us we  should take aerobic exercise five times a week for 30 minutes or more for maximum health benefits.

Children should have at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day, including taking part in sports, brisk walking and running.

That is one hell of a lot when you think about it - doing an hour of exercise every single day.

So what is the answer? Someone please tell me.

I suppose I shall keep up with what I am doing, feeling guilty if I miss a day or give in to that Jammy Dodger.

I wonder, though, are my efforts totally in vain?