Can too much sports be bad for you?

Competitive athletes often train to the point where it becomes bad for them.

I know several ex-athletes who pushed themselves so hard when they were young that they have lingering orthopedic problems now; some endure constant back pain or have trouble walking. Blood tests of marathon runners often show signs of the same chemicals present durring heart attacks, it seems that at a certain point runners begin destroying their heart muscle.

Moderate levels of exercise have been shown to stimulate your imune system but excessive exercise partially shuts the imune system down. I know when I was a competitive bike racer that I got sick all the time because I wore my body out so much it no longer had energy to fight infections.

Similarily moderate levels of exercise improve bone density and strength while excessive exercise causes bone depletion.

Remember that to reach the point where exercise becomes destructive you have to train longer and harder than most people are willing to push themselves. Don’t use any of the above as an excuse not to exercise. Too much of any good thing becomes a bad thing though.