Are You Exercising Too Much? Study Stresses the Health Consequences of Increased Exertion

Having too much of a good thing goes for just about anything, including exercise.

A recent study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that with all the benefits of exercising, doing it too much could actually increase the risk of some potentially fatal health issues.

For the study, researchers analyzed the link between exercise and heart diseases in about 2,400 physically active heart attack survivors.

Previous findings have shown that a routine exercise regimen can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke and type 2 diabetes. However, these findings also revealed that pushing things to the max could disrupt this benefit.

The results showed that deaths from cardiovascular events for up to 65 percent of patients who ran less than 30 miles or walked less than 46 miles per week. However, those who walked or ran more weekly seemed to get less of the benefits.

"These analyses provide what is to our knowledge the first data in humans demonstrating a statistically significant increase in cardiovascular risk with the highest levels of exercise," the researchers noted, in a news release. "Results suggest that the benefits of running or walking do not accrue indefinitely and that above some level, perhaps 30 miles per week of running, there is a significant increase in risk. Competitive running events also appear to increase the risk of an acute event."

However, researchers cautioned that as the study consisted primarily of heart attack survivors, the findings couldn't be generalized to fit the entire population.