I noticed that when I exercise a lot my knees tend to hurt. This always confuses me because exercising is supposed to be good for you, but yet when I finish exercising my body tends to feel worse. It is known that exercising is good for people, but is it possible for it to have the opposite affect?
Exercising, in general, is healthy for people, but too much exercise is not a good thing. According to Kathleen Doheny, running marathons and triathlons can damage people’s cardio after years of running. Any over intense activity that people train for can also damage the heart’s chambers by stretching it. Training can really damage the right ventricle by not being able to pump as fast as usual. However, after training these things can go back to normal. This article goes to state that if the training is so intense sometimes it can leave permanent damage such as scarring, stiffening, or stretching of the heart.
A study was done which showed that the marathon runners had a higher risk of their heart scarring than those who did not run marathons. These runners were also more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who do not participate in over intense exercises. Another article states that exercise can ruin people’s joints and cause people to age. Many runners end up with tendonitis which is friction within the joints. Your body and organs can begin to fail from too much exercise which causes people to look older than they really are.
Does this mean that you should not exercise? Of course not! Researchers proved that people who did not exercise have a higher risk of death compared to those who exercise in moderation. Moderation is key! 
I’m honestly not that surprised that over exercising can be bad for someone but that doesn’t mean that people should stop exercising all together. Actually working out does more than keep your body healthy. It can actually make you a happier person, I just wrote a blog about what makes a person happy and exercising about 7 minutes a day has been proven to make many much happier. If you wanna hear other ways to live a happier lifestyle check out my blog here: https://blogs.psu.edu/mt4/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&id=749057&blog_id=88160
I can relate to this post because I know a couple of people who were diagnosed with tendonitis in both of their knees. The sad part about that was they were in their early 20’s and were told that they couldn’t run as a workout anymore; or not run as much as they did. I myself use to run a lot and I developed plantar fasciitis. This is when you strain the muscle in your foot that helps support your arch. It is treatable with rest and foot inserts to help arch your foot. If torn to a certain extent surgery is required. Luckily I never got to that point, but I do have special shoes inserts from my podiatrists. Here’s some more info on plantar fasciitis and how you can treat it. http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0201/p467.html
This is very relieving to me. I do my best to exercise as much as I can, but I find it difficult to go everyday. My cheerleading coach from high school told us about how she used to run 10 miles a day, as well as ran marathons an triathlons. She was 50 years old when she had to have surgery on both of her knees. WebMD.com explained that running a lot doesn’t have to be bad for your knees. Here are six reasons that peoples’ knees go bad. 1) Ignoring knee pain 2) Being overweight 3) Not following with rehab and rest 4) Neglecting your ACL 5) over doing it 6) Overlooking other muscles around the knee.
http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/features/6-ways-to-ruin-your-knees?page=2
I have the exact same problem with my knees when I run! I think this topic is extremely interesting because a lot of people can relate to it. My dad has ran and participated in triathlons his entire life. Lately, his knees have been bothering him so much that he has stopped running like he used to. His physical trainer told him the exact same thing about moderation. It’s also extremely important to keep hydrated so your muscles don’t hurt as much. My dad shared this article with me when he was having trouble with his knees! It’s a great one to read if you have some time!
http://running.competitor.com/2013/08/injury-prevention/beating-runners-knee_143
Just like everything in life, moderation is important as you stated. I’ve heard this before about people who run 5 or 6 marathons in their life and not only am I incredibly impressed that a person could do that, but I also think how that could be good for your body. Your post does a great job of showing that too much of something, even exercise, isn’t good for you. I did gymnastics all of my life and I know so many gymnasts who suffer from arthritis and they aren’t even 16 yet. Since I’ve gotten to college, I try to workout everyday during the week, and even doing an hour a day I start to feel my knees hurting like you said, too. It’s tough because you want to be healthy but you don’t want to hurt your body. Check out the link below on some guidelines for exercising, how much you should do, what you should do, and how often!
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
This is a very interesting topic. Until last year, I never really exercised regularly… or in moderation… or at all. I have a fast metabolism so I never needed to. Now I try to work out 3 or more times a week, just to feel better about myself. However, I sometimes find myself in pain after I work out as well. I think it’s important that while working out we are aware of our limits. A lot of athletes stress the importance of “pushing your limits”, but your blog post seems to state the opposite. Overworking the body is dangerous, and many people seem to think that physical activity does not have a limit when in reality, it does. Exercise can be dangerously addictive – you can read about it here: http://beta.active.com/articles/know-the-signs-of-unhealthy-exercise-addiction
This truly does not surprise me with the excessive exercising taking a toll on the body. Though I didn’t even think about it having a negative impact on the heart, especially when we think of intensive exercise we think of that person being healthier. I played three sports basically my whole life and for years I would double the practices a day. So for instance I would have two hours of basketball practice and then straight after I would have two hours of soccer practice without even thinking about how this could negatively affect my body. It would be interesting to take a look at olympic athletes’ hearts. Here is a website where it describes five olympic athletes’ workouts. Some work out twenty hours a week! http://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/advice/olympic-athlete-workout-exercise