How bad is intensive exercise for your body

Something I have never understood is that so many people are so fond of running. When I sit on my little balcony with a coffee in the sun on Saturday mornings, I see someone sprinting by every three minutes. And despite the fact that I look slightly enviously at the usually long, strong legs that manage to do that, there is nothing in me that thinks: I want to do that too.

This weekend, the marathon in Leiden was canceled because so many people became unwell that it got too busy at the first aid and in the hospitals. A large number of runners succumbed to the heat combined with intense exertion, and secretly I thought: see, it is not human to ask that of your body. You don't run a marathon out of nowhere; it takes months of training. If even those fit people are collapsing in droves, I don't trust it.

So I decided to investigate how bad it really is to over-exercise and push your body to the limit. The answer became clear to me quite quickly: it has been proven that your body deteriorates faster when you exercise intensely. You don't have to sweat hard to stay healthy; it seems to be enough to just sweep your sidewalk. The advice is to move for two and a half hours a week, spread over different days. Normal daily activities, like walking to the supermarket, carrying a full bag back, and cycling to work. But of course, we all also want nice butts and strong arms. You don't have to suddenly avoid the gym because otherwise, you'll have to walk with a cane in ten years, but the advice is just not to go all out. If you exercise a little throughout the year, you don't have to take that final sprint right before summer.

Source: Quest.nl