What Are the Dangers Involved in Performing Cardio Exercises?

Doing cardio exercises is really beneficial in a weight loss program. You naturally burn calories from day to day even when you are just sitting down and even while you're asleep. Doing cardio exercises will burn more calories than your regular daily activities. This will shed off the fat in your body. However, as much as it helps you lose weight, you have to be careful when doing cardio exercises as there are some common dangers tied to it.

The most important consideration is medical condition. There are certain medical conditions that can be affected by doing cardio workouts. Hypertension is probably the most obvious since doing cardio workouts, especially mid or high impact ones, alleviate blood pressure. If a person is hypertensive, there's a significant chance that the blood pressure will go higher than normal. It may lead to stroke or other cardiovascular diseases.

Another medical condition would be asthma. Since you're pushing yourself while doing cardio workouts, you'll most likely be out of breath after a routine. Thus, asthma attacks can happen while doing cardio. As an asthmatic myself, asthma attacks occur when I do strenuous physical activities.

There may be several other medical conditions that can be affected by cardio workouts. The best thing to do is consult your physician if you are fit to exercise. You may be asked to completely stop your exercise or do them at low impact and intensity. You'll most likely need to do your cardio exercises less frequently.

If you're new to cardio exercises, you should always start with low impact routines. Your body may not be able to adjust immediately to the stress of higher impact aerobic exercises. I did that before and I tired myself out completely plus, I acquired a couple of injuries so I had to stop.

Physical injuries are also quite common when doing cardio workouts and there are quite a lot of them. One of the usual injuries that could happen is sprain or injuries to the joints. The knees and ankles are the most commonly hit since aerobic exercises are usually comprised of running, jumping, spinning and intense stretching. Fractures can also happen especially if you're low in calcium or if you have a weak bone structure. This usually happens to older persons and beginners.

Using machines or tools can also lead to injuries especially if you don't know how to use them. Make sure you know how to at least operate a machine. It's quite painful to stumble on an automatic treadmill or pin your legs while using a walker, climber or a stationary bike. Take it from me. It really hurts.

Always remember, you can push yourself to the limit when it comes to cardio exercises. The more you put into it the more calories you will burn. But if you feel you are too tired or if you're feeling something painful, stop immediately or tone down your intensity. Most importantly, seek advice from a physician and based from his or her recommendation, ask a fitness expert what type of cardio exercises you can perform.

Sources:

Dr. Ramon A. Reyes, MD
Internal Medicine - Cardiologist
St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines

Dr. Johnny T. Shia, MD
Internal Medicine - Cardiologist
St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines