Stay away from protein powders, steroids and hyper-gymming if you call yourself a fitness freak. In fact, doctors advise that one should never work out “too much and too quickly".
Last week a TV actor – Siddhaanth Surryavanshi – died during a routine workout.
While the cause of Surryavanshi’s death was a heart attack after a gym session, the deaths of several actors including standup comic Raju Srivastav and television star Sidharth Shukla have once again spurred the conversations around gym workouts and heart attacks.
According to health experts, excess of everything is bad, be it workouts.
“What one wants to know is why a sudden flurry of such cases and the answer is simple – more and more people have started using gyms," said Dr Vaibhav Mishra, director of cardiac surgery, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj.
Doctors believe that there is more awareness about health and benefits of exercise, but people don’t realise that over-exercise may impact adversely.
“The sudden demise of many popular celebrities while working out in the gymnasium has sent shockwaves across our community and medical professionals especially, making them reassess the possible causes of cardiac arrest among younger people," said Dr Sanjeev Gera, director and head of cardiology, Fortis Noida. “Cardiac arrest is usually due to a massive heart attack because of underlying severe silent blockages in heart arteries or could also be due to rapid or very slow heart rates. This trend has emerged recently after post-Covid stagnant lifestyle."
Moreover, the prescription of steroids to get a toned body has a list of side effects that are often ignored.
“Anabolic steroids are performance-enhancing medicines that increase muscle mass and decrease fat while having a variety of negative side effects," said Dr Amit Khandelwal, director and head of the department of cardiology at Paras Hospital, Udaipur.
Khandelwal explained that such steroids are prescription-only medications that are sometimes used without a doctor’s supervision to increase muscle mass and sports performance. Steroids are frequently referred to as a “performance and image-improving substance".
Also, Dr Mishra from Max explained that the excessive use of “pre-workout protein powder" which contains caffeine is deleterious for health.
“While it delays fatigue and lets you exert more, it increases the heart rate and can cause irregular heart rate and fatal irregularities of heart rhythm," he said.
How use of steroids in gyms can harm the body
The use of steroids might have long-term consequences, experts suggest.
Apart from cardiovascular issues, such steroids are capable of causing liver illnesses, reproductive organ damage, significant mood swings and physical and psychological changes in both men and women.
“Aggressive training in the form of bodybuilding and supplements in the form of steroids are extremely harmful," said Dr Mahim Saran, senior consultant of interventional cardiology at Medanta Hospital in Lucknow.
The effect of anabolic steroids – which are used for building muscles, enhancing performance for strength and endurance and for burning fat – can vary from person to person.
“Some people may experience fluid retention or problem with sleeping, nerve damage, irritability, mood swings, violence or despair, increased sex drive (libido), and skin changes," Khandelwal said. “They also increase bone growth. Therefore, if used by adolescents who haven’t yet experienced the puberty growth spurt, the medicines can induce early bone ageing and restricted growth."
In fact, such steroids are extremely addictive.
A person who is addicted to anabolic steroids will continue to use them despite unpleasant physical adverse effects. Endogenous steroids are a necessary component of our immune and hormonal systems.
“It’s not that they are always bad, but exogenously whatever is recommended or consumed should be based on the individual’s needs. Nothing should be taken or done without supervision, whether it is a pattern of gyming, exercise, or drugs. Youngsters must avoid addictive substances," Dr Khandelwal from Paras Hospital warned.
Dr Mishra from Max quoted a study done by the American Heart Association which was published in a reputed medical journal. “The study found that people taking anabolic steroids have increased plaque formation in coronary arteries. The longer the duration of steroid intake the more are the plaques, thus more would be the threat of having a heart attack."
Hyper-gymming is also bad
Doctors suspect that if it’s not steroids, then hyper-gymming can also be one of the reasons for the uptick in heart attacks.
Multiple doctors told News18.com that even a moderately heavy exercise can put a person in danger of cardiac arrest if there is a blockage in arteries and remains undetected.
Scientifically, during exercise, the increasing demand for blood and oxygen forces the heart to pump harder and more frequently.
While a healthy heart can perform this function efficiently, if there is any blockage in arteries or other structural abnormality, it may lead to adverse cardiac events.
According to Dr Sandeep Singh, director, cardiothoracic vascular surgery (CTVS), at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Delhi, “Sudden cardiac death happens more frequently after vigorous physical activity when blockages remain undetected, and sometimes in the background of a recognised diagnosis."
Vigorous activity can potentially cause plaque rupture or electrical abnormalities in the heart, which can result in cardiac arrest.
Singh advised that when working out, the essential notion to remember is to avoid “too much, too quickly".
“Too many reps, too much weight, or too much running, raising it too quickly, is not helpful, especially as you become older," he said. “This is not to say that exercise is not a healthy practice. Individuals who live a healthy lifestyle and watch their diet can stick to their regular routine and go to the gym."
What to do
Heart attack, in the last few years, has also been noticed more and more among younger people, aged below 40 years.
While some studies hint at the outbreak of Covid-19 and its long-term side effects on the human body, it is already proven by several researchers that Indian bodies are more prone to heart ailments due to our genetic makeup, metabolism, and lifestyle patterns.
“A healthy lifestyle and stress management along with blood pressure and sugar control are the key to prevention," Dr Saran from Medanta said.
Doctors recommend that even the younger patients going to gyms must get their full body check-ups done including lipid-profile testing.
“It is fine if young men or women want to join the gym but as we have been seeing an early onset of coronary artery disease in the younger patients, it would be wise to get a health check-up done," Dr Saran said. “This check should be mandatory for you if you age beyond 35 years before embarking on aggressive gym activities."
One should also avoid exerting in extremes of weather, be it too hot or too cold, as it can put an increased load on the heart, experts said.
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