Cardiac Health in the News: "Extreme" Exercise and Heart Health

After all the good press about exercise and heart health, it may sound shocking to read this headline, but most things done to an extreme degree can be harmful. The phrase "moderation in all things" applies to exercise just as much as it does to other aspects of life.

The question is, what’s the definition of "extreme" where heart health and exercise are concerned?

According to James O'Keefe, a cardiologist and the director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute, in Kansas City, Missouri, exercise beyond a certain threshold can lead to heart disease, and possibly decrease the benefits of moderate exercise.

In this video interview, O'Keefe suggests that extreme exercise is "not conducive to great long-term cardiovascular health,” and cautions against the assumption that, if moderate exercise is good, more must be better. As he puts it, "Darwin was wrong about one thing. It’s not survival of the fittest but survival of the moderately fit.”

So does this mean marathon runners and other athletes who push their limits should be worried? Not exactly.

Even some of the studies O’Keefe himself cites showed that the evidence supporting the theory that more exercise led to harm was circumspect at best. For example, in one Taiwanese study he mentions, no upper "harmful” limit was found. O’Keefe even wrote to ask the Taiwanese researchers about the issue, and they said:

"We were not able to identify an upper limit of physical activity, either moderate or vigorous, above which more harm than good will occur in terms of long-term life expectancy benefits.”

The bottom line:

The New Yorker, where this story appears, sums up this piece of "news” very nicely:

"When it comes to the specific association between extreme exercise and mortality, statistically rigorous associations are hard to come by, because in any given population relatively few people exercise in an extreme way, and even fewer still die during the study.”

If you are a person who participates in so-called "extreme” sports, or if you push your body hard with every workout, be sure to see your doctor regularly and consider seeing a cardiologist to get a baseline evaluation of your heart’s health, and the risk factors in your personal history.

Beyond that, consider the reasons for pushing yourself so hard: if your goal is cardiovascular health, understand that there may be a point of diminishing returns, or at least one at which you reap no greater benefits where cardiac health is concerned.

Slidell Memorial is the most experienced in cardiac services on the Northshore, consistently being first to offer new, innovative services in cardiac care. We invite you to learn more about our cardiac services, and our new state-of-the-art Heart Center, and to contact us to set up a consultation with one of our caring clinicians today.