High Intensity Workouts

Do you need high intensity workouts to be healthy?
When I heard about US swimmer Fran Crippen dying while competing in a 10-kilometer marathon in the UAE, I was reminded of an article that I read back in March. The article is titled: "Marathoners Face Greater Risk of Artery Problems - And this could lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, even death, study suggests."
According to the article, exercising too much can be just as bad as not exercising at all. The beneficial effects of exercise on our health has a "U" shape correlation. Exercising too much may put constant stress on the body, which leads to a hardening of the large arteries that can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack and even death. Exercising too little has the same bad effect.
According to the results of a 27-year longitudinal Study conducted by the Cooper Institute, the optimum level of exercise to remain healthy and increase longevity is 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on five or more days of the week. Generally, you are doing moderate intensity exercise when you are mildly breathless but can still talk with ease.
The situation with Crippen may have been the high temperature of the water at the United Arab Emirates, even though the exact cause of his death is not known. The high physical stress of the competition combined with the high water temperature could have been too much for his heart. According to another study, marathons can cause damage to your heart, but those with the best physical endurance and training program are affected the least.
Basically, you only need high intensity workouts if you plan to be a professional athlete. In that case, make sure that you stick to a well planned and researched training schedule. However, if like me, you only want to stay in good physical shape and maintain good health for as long as possible, 3 to 4 hours a week of moderate intensity exercise is all that you need.
For illustrated examples of exercises, click http://www.exercise-to-a-healthier-life.com/ .

Charles
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