Being Careful With Your Fitness Routine

October 19, 2021

Fitness has become a buzzword for healthy living. Ultimately, the human body requires regular physical activity to stay healthy, strong and support essential functions. Therefore, if you are a fitness enthusiast, you probably already have an essential list of to-does to make the most of your workout. From training with an accountability partner to fueling your body after a workout, staying healthy and active is a no-brainer. 

However, like with most things, moderation is key. In excess, fitness could harm your health, affecting your physical and mental wellbeing.  


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Injury risks increase

Your body needs recovery time after a workout. Everybody has different recovery practices. Some people prefer to take a rest day, while others focus on active recovery. While being essentially another workout, active recovery needs to be gentle so that the muscles remain active but are not pushed too hard. Learning to listen to your body is crucial when you work out, so you know when it's time to stop. However, if you become too resilient to muscle soreness and fatigue, you might encounter overuse injuries. These unpleasant training injuries occur when you repeatedly do the same movement, putting pressure on your muscles, joints, or bones. Failure to take recovery time or to use the right technique can create trauma for the body.   


You are always sore

Muscle soreness is a natural part of an active lifestyle. Most individuals experience onset soreness on the following days after a workout. If you train regularly, you might find yourself getting used to the soreness. As a result, you might not recognize abnormal muscle pain, such as a peripheral aneurysm (a leg aneurysm like Dr. House). Fitness enthusiasts also find it hard to explain their pain to a doctor. Indeed, a doctor may assume you describe muscle soreness rather than the symptoms of an aneurysm. Yet, a peripheral aneurysm can be easily diagnosed through an ultrasound scan or angiography. Therefore, if a doctor fails to take your pain seriously, medical malpractice attorneys tend to describe the situation as medical negligence. Unfortunately, more often than not, the leading cause of missed peripheral aneurysms is the resilience to pain that extreme fitness goers can develop. 


You might develop an obsessive disorder

Frequent workouts are beneficial for your health. However, you need to maintain a healthy relationship with your routine. Exercise addiction may not be recognized officially as a mental health disorder, but it can create damaging obsessive behaviors. Individuals who exercise compulsively can get anxious when they can't work out. They are focused on burning most of the consumed calories through sports. Most of them are willing to turn down seeing friends and families in order to spend more time at the gym. 


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You damage your immune system

While regular exercises can strengthen your immune system, too much can have the opposite effect. Indeed, according to experts, high-intensity exercise for an extended period of time can cause a drop in immune function. While your immune system can recover within 24 hours, if your workout routine includes too frequent high-intensity workouts, your immune system could be left weakened. As a result, you are more vulnerable to infections and viruses. 


An active lifestyle is only healthy as long as you know how to listen to your body. Injuries, misdiagnoses, mental health disorders, and low immune response can be some of the consequences of your intense workout routine. 









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