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The Dangers of Being Too Fit

Updated: Oct 12, 2023

Written by Raphael K. (KIS‘24)

━━Nov 12th, 2020━━


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We relate a healthy lifestyle with someone who exercises on a regular basis or any athlete in general. We see these people as stronger, faster, and overall more fit counterparts of ourselves. Most of us strive to at least incorporate some kind of exercise in our daily routine, to meet the criteria of being ‘healthy’ we stereotypically deem to be good for us. Although, contrary to common belief, what if there were possible risks of exercising? Is there a certain line that shouldn’t be crossed concerning the amount of exercise we do? Yes, exercising is extremely important and beneficial, it comes along with a ridiculously long list of benefits. Anyone with enough credentials can assure you this, but questions like these, come into the picture when we are talking about OVER-exercising. Hormonal imbalances, heart strain, and bodily fatigue are some of the many symptoms shown.


There have been many cases, where a top-athlete in their profession would fall prone to problems that would usually be common amongst somebody who would have an unhealthy lifestyle. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a legendary explorer, suffered from a heart attack at 59. A well-known long-distance runner, Andrew Marr, suffered a stroke at 53. The fitness guru who started the jogging boom in the 1970s Jim Fixx, also suffered a heart attack at 52 while he was running. These are some of the many examples, but, what a lot of the cases had in common was the fact that they all involved the heart. Scientific evidence shows that pushing our body beyond the regular limits, or over-exercising, can damage our heart. In an experiment conducted by Austrian researchers, a quarter of the 16 cyclists that were competing in the ‘Race Across the Alps,’ showed muscle injury to the heart afterward. Although the researchers aren’t completely sure what causes this, they suspect that the increased adrenaline levels during these intense exercises caused the coronary arteries to narrow, eventually killing off heart cells. A certain kind of enzyme that spiked in the third of the cyclists when going through strenuous exercise was also considered to be a possible factor that could cause heart failure. Regular exercise would reduce blood pressure and pulse rate, something that would take us farther away from heart problems, but we would have to regulate ourselves when we push ourselves to the limit or over-exercising for physical symptoms.


Over-exercising can also possibly lead to an obsession with it. This can be risky for your physical health but also, your mental health. Physically, you would be fatigued heavily due to the lack of crucial rest as people with this symptom would become restless after 1~2 days without exercising and end up exercising although they are injured or ill. Mentally, because of body dissatisfaction being more and more common in today’s age, obsession may predispose us to rely too heavily on working out rather than focusing on other things in our daily lives to relieve the anxiety. We can usually tell when we’re over-exercising by some physical effects such as increased resting heart rate, decreased appetite, restless legs, dehydration, sleep disturbances such as poor sleep quality, or insomnia. Mental effects such as poor mood and increased stress also are shown.


Our body is something that we have to treat with the utmost attention and care. Common ways we achieve this through exercising, dieting, or just spending time and money ourselves for our physical/mental health, but when indulging in such activities, we have to make sure that we might not be hurting ourselves as well.


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Credits:

Adam, David, and David Munk. “Is It Possible to Be Too Fit?” The Guardian, The Guardian, 10 June 2003, www.theguardian.com/society/2003/jun/10/lifeandhealth.science. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020.


Bee. “Exercise: Yes, You CAN Be Too Fit for Your Own Good: Why Exercise May Be Harmful to the Heart.” Mail Online, Daily Mail, 15 Jan. 2013, www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2262441/Exercise-Yes-CAN-fit-good-Why-exercise-harmful-heart.html. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020.


Psych Central. “Is It Possible To Be Too Fit?” Psych Central, 17 May 2016, psychcentral.com/lib/is-it-possible-to-be-too-fit/#:~:text=Increased%20adrenaline%20levels%20during%20prolonged,even%20trigger%20mini%2Dheart%20attacks. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020.


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