As the gymnasiums, fitness centres and yoga institutions have reopened under Unlock 3, people are sweating it out in gyms as they were eagerly waiting to get back to a healthy routine. Staying at home for months have led to weight gain and people are exhausting themselves in gyms. Healthcare experts’ advice to those people is to be careful about their health and start slow. They should begin with light exercises and with time raise the intensity level. This is crucial as the body needs time to adjust to this change. Besides this, don’t skip warm-ups and cool-down phases. According to doctors, vigorous exercising can adversely affect the heart, kidney and immunity.
Dr Rohan Sequeira, consultant general medicine at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai informs, “Too much exercise causes a cascade event in your body. It starts starving and you release a hormone called Cortisol. Increased cortisol eats away at your body’s own muscle mass. There is a deep co-relation between exercise and your body’s hormonal system. Some hormones are directly influenced by physical activity and play important roles in helping the body adapt to the imposed physical demands of exercise. But hormones may positively or negatively influence many of the physiological adaptations to physical activity. This is why exercise must be done in moderate means and should not upset this delicate balance.”
While moderate exercise with the right diet and lifestyle can strengthen the body and improve immunity, high-intensity or over high-intensity gymming can overload the cardiovascular system and may cause damage to the heart and arteries,” highlights Dr Mohammed Imran Soherwadi, consultant, emergency medicine at Aster RV Hospital, Bengaluru. He adds, “Over time, it can lead to physical fatigue, change in appetite levels, dehydration, hormonal changes and disrupt the sleep cycle. Excessive exercising may also eventually damage or weaken the muscles, tendons and ligaments as they undergo extra strain and pressure. It can lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue into protein (myoglobin) which in turn causes severe kidney damage. All of these factors together could also weaken the immune system of an individual.”
Excess of everything is bad and this also applies to exercise. Dr Kanchan Anand, head of physiotherapy at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi says, “We understand that people must be in a hurry to join the gym to gear up their cardio or weight training. My suggestion would be to go slow with their routine and include proper warm-ups and cool-down phases. Start bit lower than from where you left before lockdown and gradually raise the intensity. This way all your body parts, especially the heart, will get accustomed to the new routine. Stay well hydrated. In case you have cardio issues, consult the cardio physiotherapist to know exactly how much you can do before exercising.” Dr Anand adds that if there has been a gap of few months it’s wise to consult a trained physiotherapist or certified gym instructor if don’t have any medical condition. In case you do, opt for a supervised exercise program available at leading hospitals. It’s safe and can produce desired results. “We have had cases where people in the age group of 20 to 50 suffered heart attacks at gyms and were admitted to our emergency ward. Therefore, you should never vigorously do cardio and weight training.”
Common gym mistakes you must avoid
Do not add any steroids which are taken abruptly at the advice of gym instructors such as Intramuscular injection (IM) or Intravenous injection (IV)
For beginners, neurological adaptation is responsible for strength benefits and it usually takes four to eight weeks depending upon the individual and muscle-building adaptation takes more weeks and relies on the consistency of your training
Nutrition is also a key factor along with gyming so keep a watch on what you are eating along with exercising.
