There is one type of exercise that most of us dislike doing. In fact, it might even be said that it is this type of exercise that puts some people off exercise altogether.

Many people unfortunately believe it to be necessary to remain heart healthy.

Recent scientific studies prove that not only is it unnecessary, but it also increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, and early death.

Cardio exercise is good for you, more cardio exercise is better for you, but excessive cardio exercise is worse than no exercise at all. Several studies have discovered that those who over-exercise can die of cardiovascular events.

In one such study, researchers followed 2,377 people who already had a cardiac event for a period of 10 years to explore the effects of different exercise patterns on the likelihood that they would die of another cardiac event.

They published their results in the September 2014 edition of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

They compared the exercise groups with those who hardly exercised at all, and this is what they found:

• Those who did the metabolic equivalent of a 1.07 to 1.8 km run every day reduced their risk of cardiac death by 21 percent.

• Those who did the equivalent of a 1.8 to 3.6 km run reduced their risk by 24 percent.

• Those who did the equivalent of a 3.6 to 5.4 km run reduced their risk by 50 percent.

• Those who did the equivalent of a 5.4 to 7.2 km run reduced their risk by 63 percent.

• BUT, those who did the equivalent of a run longer than 7.2 km INCREASED their risk by 160 percent.

This shows clearly that while more exercise is better than little exercise, there is a point at which too much exercise becomes heart risky when it is performed every day.

The fact that exercising is good is unsurprising. We’ve seen hundreds of studies prove that. But this study helps us to put an appropriate cap on the amount of exercise considered beneficial, especially for those with previous cardiac events.

The problem with regular, excessive exercise seems to be that it causes permanent volume overload and injuries to the heart ventricles and possibly permanent hardening and dysfunction of the arteries. In the June 2012 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, medical scientists explained that this damage almost always occurs during extreme exercise. But those cardiac markers such as blood pressure and heart rate return to normal after about a week. With frequent extreme exercise, however, the injuries become permanent and the cardiac markers remain at unhealthy levels. This puts you at risk of a cardiac event and death.

The September, 2014, study used people with previous cardiac events as its subjects, but the findings seem to be consistent with healthy individuals as well.

In a 2014 edition of the journal Heart, Swedish authors showed that people who performed regular extreme exercise throughout adulthood were more likely to develop atrial fibrillation. This is a condition that involves rapid and irregular heart rate, and as such may cause circulatory instability and stroke. It is the type of cardiac damage believed to be most common during strenuous exercise.

They obtained the physical activity details of 44,410 men between ages 45 and 79 by asking them about their exercise levels at ages 15, 30, and 50. Those who exercised for more than five hours a week when they were 30 were the most likely to develop atrial fibrillation when they were older, even when they abandoned that heavy exercise schedule later.

The advice, therefore, seems to be good for all of us. Exercise in moderation.

High intensity interval training, for example, involves approximately 15 seconds of strenuous exercise, followed by around 15 seconds of slower exercise. If you alternate between the two, you break up the periods of severe exercise and give your body some time to recover. 20 minutes per day should be more than adequate for most people who want to stay fit and lose weight.

If you already suffer high blood pressure, there is one type of exercise that is more effective that anything else.Plus it’s very low intensity, so there is absolutely no health risk. Learn more about this exercise and try it out for yourself here…

And if you need to get your cholesterol under control, follow this step-by-step strategy…