Aerobic training is putting your body through tough exercise without the use of weights. It has many benefits for one’s health, but could that actually be proven? Aerobic training can also have negative effects that could damage individuals in many ways without even knowing. Unknowingly people could injure themselves or even get a health condition while doing any type of aerobic training without proper research. You could possibly put yourself in a worse position than what you started as.

The issue is not only what type of aerobic exercise can cause harm to the body but how long a person does it for. In the article “Bad Exercise” by author Stan Reents and PharmD has multiple headers on bad exercise but one of them is named “Bad Aerobic Exercise”. This section of the article has examples of bad aerobic exercise and what could happen if someone does it incorrectly. One of the examples is what effects it has on the heart. It states that “Recently, it has been suggested that long-term excessive endurance exercise can lead to myocardial fibrosis, coronary artery calcification, and malfunction of the contracting action of the heart (O’Keefe JH, et al. 2012).” This means that a long period of aerobic/endurance training could cause heart problems like myocardial fibrosis and coronary artery calcification which both doesn’t sound great. Another example under the “Bad Aerobic Exercise” header is “Effects on the Endocrine System”. It discusses ” When young female athletes lose enough weight and body fat so that their normal menstrual cycle is disrupted (amenorrhea), they are at risk of a decline in bone density. This is known as “female athlete triad” (Torstveit MK, et al. 2005).”. What the quote from the article is explaining is when younger women loose enough weight and body fat it could have negative effects on their menstrual cycle and bone density.

Aerobic exercise is very straining on the body and at the end of it you could feel very exhausted. Who would want to be sweaty and fatigue. High intensity exercise could also change the mood and physical state of the one doing it. In the article “Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Mood.” explains an experiment of 32 female medical students ages 18-23 completed 2 8-min trials of high-intensity exercise and 2 8-min trials of low-intensity exercise. One high and low were accompanied with music, the other 2 trials were accompanied by metronome. They were split into two groups based on their heart rates. Their mood was analyzed before and after the experiment. It states that “High-intensity exercise led to increases in tension/anxiety and fatigue, whereas positive mood changes (vigor and exhilaration) were seen following low-intensity exercise only.” meaning that the women that were in the high aerobic exercise were more fatigue and tired but for those that were doing low intensity were in a positive mood. Aerobic training could change your mood depending on how you’re doing it.

No one likes muscle pains and tries their best to avoid them but aerobic exercise could put more strain on the body than expected. Individuals with sore joints may find it difficult to preform aerobic training because it causes to much stress on the joints. “8 Pros and Cons of Aerobic Exercise” it discusses that “People who have sore joints, arthritis, or trauma due to past injury will struggle to do a lot of the available aerobic exercises that are available today. Someone with painful knee joints, for example, may be limited to using an elliptical machine or a bicycle for their aerobic exercise. Others may be forced to exercise within the confines of a swimming pool. Because it is so hard on the joints”. This means that people who have arthritis or past injure trauma can injure themselves more due to aerobic exercise. It could even cause more injury to the body due to past occurrences. Too much of it will have someone with arthritis having unimaginable pain the next day.

There isn’t weight training involved with aerobic training. If you are looking for a toned up muscular physic, then aerobic training is not for you. It helps with loosing fat and slimming down but not at all with muscle growth. In the article “8 Pros and Cons of Aerobic Exercise” it mentions that “it is an effective way to slim down or lose weight, but it isn’t an effective way to build muscle. If that’s what your main fitness goal happens to be, then aerobic exercise can build up your stamina, but that’s about it.”. This is discussing that muscle growth does not play a role in aerobic exercise because it does not include heavy weights but does improve stamina.

Too much of one thing could be bad for you. That is the same with too much aerobic exercise. An abundance of aerobic exercise can have negative effects on the heart. The training requires your entire body moving. It involves raising body temperature and more oxygen being released than receiving. People with heart problems while doing aerobic training could be at high risk of an heart attack. While doing the training it speeds up your heart rate and increases blood flow, but some individuals can not handle that kind of strain. In the article “Positive and Negative Effects of Exercise” by Henry Halse, CSCS, CPT it states “The most extreme case is sudden cardiac death in athletes, where a seemingly healthy person suffers a ​heart attack​ during a sporting event or workout.” This means that a person could undergo a sudden cardiac arrest putting their lives in danger.

Before considering doing high intensity aerobic exercise, you should consider consulting with your doctor. Also doing research on your own can be beneficial. Aerobic exercise can have as much negative affects as benefits such as heart problems like myocardial fibrosis and coronary artery calcification. It can alter your mood and cause fatigue. Have a personalized routine that is good for you. Learn if you have any conditions that may be life altering if doing aerobic training.

References:

“Positive and Negative Effects of working out” By Henry Halse, CSCS, CPT Updated Jun 24, 2019 https://www.livestrong.com/article/459374-positive-negative-effects-of-exercise/

“8 Pros and Cons of Aerobic Exercise” https://healthresearchfunding.org/8-pros-and-cons-of-aerobic-exercise/

“Acute effects of aerobic exercise on mood” Steptoe, A., & Cox, S. (1988). Acute effects of aerobic exercise on mood. Health Psychology, 7(4), 329–340. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1989-14772-001

“Bad Exercise” Stan Reents, PharmD Original Posting: 07/24/2012 03:26 PM https://www.athleteinme.com/ArticleView.aspx?id=3275