Exercise: Does it cause cardiovascular risk?

Cardiac risk is in the news. Young people dying from sudden cardiac arrests. One reason attributed is “heavy exercise” or “heavy weight training.”

Sounds very logical, doesn’t it?

In fact, the minute you put the words heavy before any kind of physical activity, most people already imagine pain and suffering of the worst kind.

So if you attribute cardiac risks, the most logical thing to do would be to stop. Who really likes heavy, painful exercises?

But is this true?

There is something peculiar to language. You can use it to be precise and vague at the same time.

So the term “heavy” obviously sounds like a lot. But how would you define heavy?

There are champion weight lifters who do not die of cardiac arrests. There are marathons, even triathlon athletes, who do not die.

Then there is someone who runs ten kilometers and dies.

So heavy is very relative. Relative to your training.

For someone who has not walked, a ten minute walk is a lot. Enough to trigger a cardiac event. But for someone who runs ten kilometers every day, running one more day ought not to trigger an event.

It is all relative.

But then why are all these people getting affected?

The devil lies in the details. Remember, we see headlines. Not a detailed investigation.

So should you strength train or run or “exercise heavy.”

Sure, relative to your capacity. Exercise increases your blood flow up to twenty times, acting as a pump cleaning your arteries.

For the untrained, walking is enough. If you have been doing this for a while, more is fine. Both strength training and cardiovascular.

Remember the outcomes are not for your heart alone. Strength training builds bone. This matters when you fall and break your hip.

You are as likely to suffer a bad outcome from a fall as you are from cardiovascular risk.

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