Can high intensity exercise trigger heart markers? A recent study has raised red flags about how healthy or unhealthy high-intensity training routines can be. We address all the edges of the study and the certainties.
Is it true that high intensity exercise can trigger heart markers?
The alarms have been reactivated following research by Dutch scientists on the relationship between cardiac biomarkers and high-intensity physical activity . In the conclusions of their work groups, it is specified that excessively intense training is related to imbalances in the neurovegative system; this dysfunction could cause arrhythmias in high-level athletes .
Does this mean that it is not good to exercise? On the contrary. What the researchers come to explain is the real effect that a high intensity training maintained over time exerts on the body of athletes. Not all study participants developed pathologies close to cardiovascular health problems.
According to the conclusions of the publication, this relationship between cardiac markers and intense physical activity contributes more risk in those athletes with a history and / or predisposition to develop cardiovascular diseases.
Today, sedentary lifestyle poses a greater risk of cardiovascular problems than sudden death in athletes
What are cardiac markers
Cardiac markers or biomarkers are those substances that a heart that is suffering releases into the blood. At a medical level, these markers help to diagnose cardiovascular failure conditions such as acute coronary syndrome or cardiac ischemia.
Among the cardiac markers that athletes and their coaches have to monitor , troponin stands out, which is the most faithful biomarker when it comes to detecting the beginning of damage to the heart.
In both cases, the problem is that the heart does not receive enough blood, so it exerts a lot of effort. This insufficiency is related to obstruction of the airways and hardening of the arteries.
This being the case, blood flows at a lower rate, and therefore less blood reaches the heart; by extension, in addition to the overexertion made by the muscle, there is a risk of suffering from insufficient blood in other vital points such as the brain.
How does high intensity exercise affect cardiac markers?
To understand the relationship between high intensity exercise and cardiac biomarkers , one must know what happens to the body during the practice of this type of fitness training.
Thus, when the maximum is required of the body, in short intervals according to the dynamics of high intensity training, the body releases stored sugar to fuel the muscles.
For this, the body is nourished by any body energy . So far, as long as that glycogen is burned, everything is positive; Unless the person has risk factors, is not in the optimal physical conditions to face this momentary overexertion or simply executes them in the wrong way.
Because in these cases, the body reacts by hardening the pathways related to cardiac function. Collaterally, the pressure on the heart rises and the biomarkers that warn of the risk of cardiovascular collapse are triggered.
This occurs because cardiac markers are released that cause arterial pathways to narrow, the blood vessel to harden, and heart failure to develop.
Is practicing HIIT training modalities harmful to health?
With this research and the publication of its results, the sector has lived some turbulent months. As presented, it seems to lead to the conclusion that doing high intensity exercises , such as HIIT routines, is inadvisable and even harmful to health.
However, the authors themselves have come to the fore to clarify the communication that was being made of their work.
The conclusions suggest that doing high intensity exercise without basic precautions can lead to heart problems . But they also suggest that it can be used to prevent.
It is on this edge that the study authors focus. They insist, in numerous interviews and communiqués, that his research can open an interesting way to identify the risk of heart problems in athletes.
Every so often the world of sport is shocked by the death or heart attack of athletes (elite or lower categories).
In this way, they emphasize, having this information on the athlete’s cardiovascular risk can save the athlete’s life.
So where does the risk lie? The truth is that all physical activity, depending on the physical and genetic conditions of the person, is subject to one condition or risk factors that can lead to exercise as a harm rather than a benefit.
Other studies on the relationship overexertion and cardiovascular health
The biochemistry team of the Hospital San Agustín de Avilés published in 2009 its study on the levels of homocystey, an amino acid related to proteins and related to the processes that lead to cardiovascular diseases, in athletes.
According to his research, these were above normal in those athletes who trained with very intense tests . In contrast, those who maintained a moderate training routine, the levels were between the standards.
