‘Unhealthy’ path to fitness?

Health is a state of physical, psychological and social well-being for a person. Health is a state that needs to be continuously worked upon through various ways such as exercises, meditation or just hanging out with family or friends. All these affect our health in a positive way, and help us attain equilibrium with our health and professional lives.

In modern times, with our professional work taking a toll on our health, we look at many ways to cope with it. Many options are available nowadays that can help one counter the stress that an individual faces every day. These options include yoga, gym, Pilates, jogging, meditation etc. Each individual chooses his own coping mechanism which suits him/her the best. With the influence of social media, everyone is promoting their domain to the best of

their abilities. Consequently, people are indeed getting aware of taking care of their health but, at the same time, there are some negative effects of it.

Many teenagers, or even adults, are attracted towards social media influencers who portray themselves as medically knowledgeable, and claim to have a naturally built aesthetic physique. Some of them may be good but most of them do not possess necessary qualifications to pass a medical suggestion to anyone. However, as things stand today, social media advice is unregulated in India and people easily get away with it without facing accountability. With increasing incidents of death in the gym while working-out, I thought of providing some of the possible reasons for it.

* Pre-existing heart conditions: When an individual has existing heart conditions that he/she is aware of, such as blockages, ventricular hypertrophy, arrhythmia etc., he/she should take a little extra care while exercising, and also before exercises.

* The individual should check his/her blood pressure before workout;

* If any medication has been prescribed by a medical practitioner, it should be taken as prescribed;

* The individual should avoid strenuous exercises, as it might be risky; such persons should do only light to moderate exercises.

* Excess use of caffeine: Caffeine is a commonly used ingredient which is present in most of the energy drinks as well as in commonly consumed beverages like coffee, tea etc. Caffeine causes a short but dramatic increase in blood pressure, even if one doesn’t have high blood pressure issues. The effect of caffeine varies from person to person but, according to scientific data, 400 mg of caffeine is safe for most people. However, if you have a high BP issue, try to limit it to 200 mg per day. Most of the pre-workout supplements and fat burners have caffeine in them, and people usually take multiple doses of fat burner pills or pre-workout supplements, taking its total dose per day to 1,000 to 1,400 mg per day, which can be very dangerous for the individual.

* Ephedra: It is an ingredient that is commonly used as a weight-loss supplement but is associated with cardiac hypertrophy, heart attack, stroke etc. It is banned in Western countries but is easily available and purchased in Indian markets.

* Steroid abuse: It is a name that is very commonly associated with people who like gym and lifting weights. Social media presence has played a huge role in this category, especially in youngsters who want to look muscular or aesthetically built in a short span of time. They usually fall easy prey to this evil. Rather than working hard and focussing on a good healthy diet, they are influenced towards steroids which result in many hormonal changes in them that with time results in many side effects like blood clotting, artery damage, heart attack, stroke etc.

* Stress and lack of sleep: In modern times, technology has connected us with each other but, at the same time, it has increased our stress to a point where it has started affecting our health. Lack of sleep leads to improper recovery during night, which results in feeling of constant fatigue and, over a period of time, leads to hormonal changes affecting various body systems. Exercising with a body that is under constant stress and lacks recovery is something that one must take seriously to avoid any kind of mishap.

Signs of heart trouble

* Chest discomfort: Many people associate sudden and intense chest pain with heart attack but it can begin with a mild pain, uncomfortable pressure or squeezing sensation in the centre of the chest.

* Shortness of breath: A feeling of unusual breathing with chest discomfort can be a precursor to heart attack and should be taken as a sign to seek medical attention immediately.

* Dizziness/lightheadedness/ nausea: If you feel dizziness or nausea while doing your exercise it should be taken as a warning sign, although light headedness can also happen because of fatigue.

* Heart rhythm: The sensation of skipping a heartbeat, palpitations or thumping could indicate a heart-related issue.

* Unusual sweating: Although sweating during exercise is normal, nausea and breaking into a cold sweat are warning signs of a possible problem.

If an individual feels any of these symptoms during exercise, he/she should seek medical help immediately.

The writer is a certified stott intensive reformer Pilates trainer. Send your questions to [email protected]