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It is common knowledge that too much of a good thing can be
harmful for you, and it turns out exercise is no exception to this rule.
Although it's true the vast majority of people in this country are
severely underexercised, there are a few people who
can overdo it and actually harm their health.
This first gained widespread attention when Jim Fixx, a marathoner
and author of The Complete Book of Running, died some two decades ago of a
heart attack at the age of 52 while he was running.
It took me nearly 20 years to start to appreciate that it is
possible to overdo exercising. My last marathon was nearly 15 years ago, and
I hadn't even competed since then until I jumped in a local neighborhood 5K
race and won my age division.
Last month, I lectured at an Early to Rise seminar in
Florida and had a chance to hear Dr.
Al Sears speak about his PACE program .
He presented some compelling evidence that strongly suggests long distance
running is not the best exercise for you.
Turns out that what you really need is a combination of
both endurance exercise and anaerobic type sprinting exercises
(weight training will also work) to help increase the instant dramatic
demands on your cardiovascular system that can precipitate heart
attacks, such as in the winter when you might be shoveling snow.
He has quite a comprehensive program and I would strongly
encourage you to consider reviewing it. I do plan on doing a more
comprehensive review on the PACE program sometime in the future.
A good rule to remember about exercise from
contributing editor Paul Chek: If you can't improve your
performance by 1-3 percent each time you go to the gym, you are not rested
and should stretch, meditate or get a massage. In other words, do some
relaxing instead of training.
Next Saturday, Dr. Ben Lerner will have another article that
addresses this topic in great detail so be sure and come back next week for
it.
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