Let’s keep this real. For the majority, the idea of regular exercise is not a top priority. The closest most come to it is watching reality shows like The Biggest Loser in which celebrity trainers try to persuade unhealthily overweight families to change their lives for the better. Which, of course, brings us to the usual health pitch. All the medical evidence shows the link between those extra pounds and all those unfortunate health problems like diabetes, heart disease and some of the cancers. So, if you ask anyone wearing an expert’s hat, you will always hear the same advice to lose those extra pounds. The usual encouraging formula is any reduction of 10% or more in body weight adds years of healthy life. These experts pick 10% because the research shows any higher target is rejected as being beyond reach. In fact, many find the prospect of trying to lose 10% too much and give up before they start. Nevertheless, you will encounter real problems in getting health cover if you are obviously overweight. The insurer will load the premium rate to encourage you to get into the weight loss game.

So let’s switch to the other end of the activity scale and see what problems emerge. The ERs around the country fill up with sports injuries. This can be something relatively minor like a simple sprain or strain, or it can be broken bones, or more serious damage likely to cause long-term problems. The more people practice or train, the more they repeat the same muscular actions and this can cause serious strain injuries. The ones most at risk are those who train for endurance events like the marathon. Despite the fact the news media cover people dying while running in marathons, triathlons and other distance events, a remarkable number of people now enter these events. Some are doing it for “fun”. Others take a more professional approach. Some new research followed forty athletes training for endurance events, giving regular MRI scans. The results showed the majority were stretching their heart muscles, in five cases risking permanent damage. These five had been training for longer than the others with signs of scarring to the tissue within the right ventricle.

As with all research, it’s necessary to keep everything in context. There’s no evidence of training being dangerous for the average person. Indeed, within moderation, exercise is good for you. But if you take on a commitment based on training more than twenty hours a week, you are moving on to the other side of the scale where you are risking injury simply by continuing to train. For the record, the five athletes with heart damage were training ten hours a day which is excessive. The moral for you as an average person is not to start an activity at your maximum. Build up slowly, getting fitter and developing muscle tone before pushing yourself too hard. In this way, you will sail through any medical examination to get your group or individual health insurance. Thereafter, if you do decide to train hard for an endurance event, get regular medical checkups to ensure you do not damage yourself and to reduce the risk of your health insurance plan being cancelled.

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