EXERCISE SCULPTS HEART AS WELL AS MUSCLES

Research shows that exercise can cause structural changes in the heart, but the benefits vary depending on the type of training a person is engaged in.

Endurance athletes show an increase in the size of both their left and right ventricles after 90 days of team training, while athletes who only did strength training had excessive growth in their left ventricles, but no change in their right ventricle size.

And while the ability of the left ventricle to fully relax between beats, or diastolic function was enhanced in the endurance athletes, it worsened in the strength trainers.

Small studies have found that the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, is larger in trained athletes, although there has been no research on how exercise affects the structure of the right ventricle. It is also unclear whether exercise itself changes the structure of the heart or whether individuals with unusually large left ventricles are more likely to become athletes.

To investigate, researchers studied 40 endurance athletes and 24 strength athletes, examining their hearts with echocardiography before and after 90 days of team training. The endurance group included male and female long-distance rowers, while the strength group consisted of male football players.

While left ventricle mass increased in both groups, the endurance athletes also showed better diastolic function in their left ventricle, and enlargement and more efficient contraction and relaxation in both of the lower chambers of the heart, or atria.

But the strength-trained athletes actually had hypertrophy, or excessive growth, in the muscle of the left ventricle, and reduced diastolic function, but no other structural changes.

The findings "strongly refute" the idea that people are able to become competitive athletes due to their heart structure, and instead demonstrate that it is athletic training itself that is largely responsible for "athlete's heart," the investigators concluded.

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Super Healthy Tip…

In simple terms – doing a gym workout is not enough to maximize your health and fitness. We all like to look toned and us blokes like to have biceps that bulge; but in terms of real health benefits we must include fundamental aerobic training in our exercise plan. It’s OK!

You won’t shrink or become Mr Puniverse or Ms Anorexia from jogging around the block or riding your bicycle 2-3 times a week…