Gymming.. Boon or a Curse ?

Recent times have witnessed a vast number of what we now term as "Gym-deaths" of younger people at an unexpected age with notch-up fitness and lifestyle regime.

Be it Sushant Sinha, Sidharth Shukla, Kannada icon Puneeth Rajkumar, IT & Industries Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mekapati Goutham or more recently Raju Shriwastava, India has seen its fair share of unprecedented gym-deaths.

While globally these gym-deaths have been witnessed for Cricketer Shane Keith Warne, Australian politician Kimberley Jane Elizabeth Kitching, American professional bodybuilder, Cedric McMillan or British music entrepreneur and DJ, Jamal Edwards.

These are just a few names of whom we have heard through social media platforms and various news agencies, but there remains a wide pool of such people who have lost their lives to this fitness regime while following everything by the book. In past two years India has reported a major increase in gym-deaths. Many youngsters have been rushed to the hospitals after collapsing during their gymming session, while most of them couldn't make it there alive.

The question remains, what is the reason behind these deaths, specially in youngesters who follow a healthy and clean diet and make sure to be physically active and keep their health in check.

Doctors have explained that the possible reason behind these mortalities is aneurysm. An aneurysm is an abnormal swelling in the wall of the blood vessels which then ruptures and cause fatal conditions.

Doctors reason that a heart attack spares them just 2 minutes time to save the life, which is not enough in case of these people who suddenly collapse at the gym floors. The vigorous exercise regime releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

The fitness freak youngsters tend to opt for aggressive exercises, thus, elevating the level of stress hormones in the blood. This results in separation of cholesterol from the blood while depositing it on the walls of the blood vessels which leads to the condition termed as "coronary obstruction" known to disrupt the heart's normal functioning.

Practiced over a long time, these aggressive workouts and stress leads to the erosion and clotting in the blood vessel lining, a condition medically termed as "coronary thrombosis". Coronary thrombosis blocks 100% of the blood vessels, resulting in causing huge damage to the heart muscles. These damaged heart muscles will then pump blood 200 times per minute followed by severe vessel spasms. This condition results in cardiac arrest and death of a person in just 2 minutes.

While the gym owners should mandate to train their staff for handling such emergencies with basic BLS trainings and keep machines like defibrillator at their centres, we need to educate ourselves about right kind of workouts and happy living myntra.

These fatal conditions can be avoided by educating oneself of the boons and consequences of aggressive workouts and following a dietician prescribed healthy diet. Our lifestyle changes and eating habits impacts our day-to-day life a lot and eventually take a toll on us. While none of us is immune to these stresses, it becomes evident to keep them at check.

We need to introduce healthy eating habits at home, spending some quality time with family and loved ones, taking out time for ourselves and embracing the nature. Nature has been and will always be the best healer one can ask for.

Following a healthy routine with physical exercises is a good habit but we need to remember anything done in excess is harmful. So, guys educate yourself, eat healthy and find joy in things around you.