“A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time — pills or stairs.” Joan Welsh
Too much is too bad, is an old but true adage. I have been advocating moderation in daily physical exercise for nearly half a century in all my writings and books. I feel sad when I see people panting for breath and running for their lives (literally) in the morning in the fond hope of being here forever. They will certainly not succeed. Thanks to the jogging outfits industry advertising jogging directly, and indirectly through the so-called World Heart Day marathons, the bad habit has become second nature for health freaks. This is another of those thriving multibillion-dollar industries that has to survive by advertisement alone.
Truth does not need advertisement but falsehood does. Even those who choose to walk make life so difficult by walking so fast and moving their whole body so vigorously that it becomes a torture rather than a happy and healthy morning routine. The latter is not only to get the benefit of exercise but also to be one with nature of which we are an inseparable part by enjoying the company of trees, flowers, birds and other animate creatures around us. They have a close relationship with us too. In addition, morning walk gives one an opportunity to greet and smile at someone on the way, the best way to start the day.
Who bothers about an ordinary Indian village doctor writing about morning walk? People ignore my advice. Now comes a bombshell from their masters, the Americans, who have realised the dangers of heavy exercise like “running to death” and other forms of heavy physical exertion. When it comes from there it will be accepted as gospel truth.
Let me bring “their” wisdom to you. The first study examined the cardiac structure and function of a unique cohort of documented life-long, competitive endurance veteran athletes (above 50 years). An unexpectedly high prevalence (50 per cent) of myocardial fibrosis was observed in healthy, asymptomatic life-long veteran male athletes, compared to zero cases in age-matched veteran controls and young athletes. This data suggests a link between life-long endurance exercise and myocardial fibrosis that requires further investigation, avers this study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology of February 17, 2011.
There has been a recent laboratory study that gives credence to the above finding by its stunning results. Researchers Benito and his colleagues studied rat models to document cardiac fibrosis after long-term intensive exercise training. The heart of such rats showed major changes in not only its structure but in its capacity to trigger life-threatening arrhythmias (irregular rhythms which might suddenly kill the rat.) The heart muscle was susceptible to irregularities very easily.
This whole remodelling of the heart of a healthy rat to that of a seriously ill rat happened solely due to sustained heavy exercise. This kind of prospective study cannot be replicated in humans for obvious reasons. Nonetheless, the moral of this study is loud and clear for daily implementation in the field of exercise. ( Circulation 2011; 123: 13-23). There was an old study of marathon runners which showed significant fibrosis of the heart muscle during post-mortem. I had written about it 20 years ago! All my health books have a chapter on exercise where the main thrust is on moderation.
Professor Lawrence Moorehouse, a NASA physiologist, in his celebrated book Total Fitness has a chapter on ‘Fit for what?' If one is a mile runner s/he is fit to run a mile; if one is a tennis ace s/he is good for tennis and so on. But this class of “fit for” people need not be healthy, usually are not healthy! Health in its totality has very little to do with heavy exercise — both short- and long-term.
Alberto Salazar, a world famous American marathon runner, clocked 2: 08: 13 in the 1981 New York City marathon to set a world record and literally set River Hudson on fire. Poor man's record was later withdrawn as the track was found to be short by 147 metres. That is not our interest in this article. Alberto dropped down on the running track one fine morning with a near fatal heart attack at the young age of 49. Although he survived by the skin of his teeth, he was not the same man again!
Many other examples could be given. Nearly 40 years ago George Burch, the famous editor of the American Heart Journal and professor of cardiology, had written an annotation entitled ‘Run to Death.'
Indian wisdom of Ayurveda has had thousands of years of fecund observational research experience behind it. To be healthy, Ayurveda recommends hard work as the only exercise but in today's sedentary living style we need a daily dose of mild-to-moderate exercise to keep ourselves fit. Hard work is a blessing for our poor folk who do not need any exercise. In fact, they need more physical rest. In conclusion, one could reiterate that the cardinal principle of any health promoting activity is moderation in everything one does. The human body has come ready with a very wise doctor inside who gives body signals often. When we overdo exercise this wisdom warns us through breathlessness. People should listen to their body's warning signals and never ignore them. Our reductionist science can never hold a candle to the body's own wisdom. Our body's wisdom knows what is best for us. Let the healthy habit of daily exercise be an enjoyable routine rather than drudgery. Fitness — if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body. — Anon.
(The writer is a former professor of cardiology, Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London, and retired Vice-Chancellor, Manipal University. Email: hegdebm@gmail.com)
