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Exercising Safely

Here are some excellent safety tips on how to exercise safely, with a little bit of humor thrown in!


Weekend warriors, take note: if you sit on your rear all week and think it's fine to head out and play a two-hour game of basketball on Saturday, you may want to reconsider. This is especially true if you have not been evaluated for cardiovascular disease, and don't know whether you might have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or other risk factors for a heart attack that you can't see on the outside. If you are overweight or obese, you already know you've got one of the risk factors for heart attack. Get a thorough checkup before you decide it's time to start training for that marathon you always promised yourself you'd run before you got too old.

Some folks have an all-or-nothing attitude about working out: they do it all-out once in a blue moon, and then let it slide for days, weeks, or months. Then, alarmed by their increasing flabbiness, tiredness, and loss of strength, they jump in once more for a frantic workout or two…followed by an even longer period of sloth. These folks are not doing anything to improve their fitness or health, and they may be putting themselves at risk for a fatal coronary event. In hot weather, people who are overweight and not accustomed to exercising are more likely to suffer heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or dehydration. Those who slam too much water in an effort to prevent dehydration can actually become over-hydrated and sodium depleted, which can be fatal.

Now, let's put this in perspective before you decide you might as well just stay on the couch until it becomes a permanent part of your anatomy. Your risk of sudden death during a strenuous workout is extremely low. In one study, the risk of dying during the London marathon over a 23-year span turned out to be about one in 67,414—a risk comparable to many daily activities.


This having been said, let's be sure you go about it safely, especially if you're out of shape. If you overdo it enough to be sore the next day, you're in pain due to inflammation in the muscles that strikes following microscopic injury to the muscle fibers. This inflammation then triggers the release of cytokines—inflammatory mediators—that cause the blood to become more "sticky" and more likely to clot. This slightly increases your risk of heart attack if you have pre-existing artery disease. If an arterial plaque ruptures and your blood is stickier than usual due to muscle inflammation, you could suffer a complete blockage when a clot lodges in a coronary artery. Another marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein (C-RP), is also produced in response to over exercising; high C-RP levels are associated with the rupture of artery plaques.

A diet high in omega-3 fats (best sources: fish and flaxseeds), vitamin E, and the herbs ginger, turmeric, and garlic help reduce blood "stickiness" and combat inflammation. (You can take ginger, turmeric, and garlic in concentrated supplement form if you prefer; use standardized extracts.) Arthur Siegel, M.D., a professor at Harvard Medical School and director of internal medicine at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, is a well-known expert on the health risks of strenuous exercise. He recommends the following:

• Don't suddenly increase the intensity or duration of your exercise program. Slow and steady wins the race! Definitely increase both intensity and duration as you make fitness gains, but do so very gradually, over a period of weeks. • If you have cardiovascular risk factors and plan to do an extra-long or tough workout, or if you plan to compete in an athletic event, check with your doctor about taking a low-dose aspirin (81 mg) on the day before and the day of the event.

• If you're out of shape and just getting started on a program, get thoroughly screened for hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. Depending on your level of risk, you may end up having a treadmill test with an EKG to determine your safest intensity level.

• Use a heart rate monitor to maintain the right intensity. These can be bought at most sporting-goods stores. If you're exercising so hard that you can't carry on a conversation, or you're sweating profusely, you may be pushing it a bit too hard.

If you need help keeping your workouts challenging but not too challenging, the help of a personal trainer can be invaluable. You don't necessarily need to have one at every workout; just call on him or her when you're bored and want to take your program up a notch.


About the Author

To learn more about how Dr. Mindell can help you get into the best shape of your life, visit: keith.freelife.com.






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