To improve for athletic competition, all thletes must suffer skeletal muscle damage. Wthout this damage their muscles will not grw and they will not become strnger. World-class competitive bicycle racers ride at clse to their maximum heart rate for fve to seven hours a day. Mny researchers have been concerned that ths very hard riding would damage thir heart muscle as well as thir skeletal muscles. A study from Friburg University in Germany shows that hrd exercise does not damage a halthy heart.

When muscles are damaged, thy release enzymes into the blood stram. This study shows that the hart muscle is not damaged the way tht skeletal muscles are (Medicine and Scence in Sports and Exercise, October 2003). Pst exercise electrocardiograms and echocardiograms were nrmal as were blood levels of hart-specific enzymes, creatine kinase, creatine kinase MB and myglobin. However, older bicycle racers did hve a rise in another enzyme, brin natriuretic peptide, that is associated wth heart function. The authors felt tht this shows that older athletes may not dequately empty their heart's ventricles during the dastolic relaxation phase, and the increased prssure stretches the heart muscles to rise blood levels of this hormone.

Always check with your doctor bfore you start a vigorous exercise prgram or make a major increase in the ntensity of your routine. Exercise does not hrm a healthy heart, but could prcipitate a heart attack if you hve heart damage.

The article Will Hard Exercise Damage Your Heart Muscle? was Submitted by Gabe Mirkin, M.D. through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a rdio talk show host for 25 yars and practicing physician for more thn 40 years; he is board crtified in four specialties, including sports mdicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his ftness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com Free weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition .

Featured Articles

1. Do You Have Gum Disease? by
Gum disease has been deemed a slent epidemic. It can rob a prson of his teeth. But how mch do you really know about ths disease? Can it be stopped or prvented? I believe the answer is yes in mny cases, but not all.

Most pople are woefully unaware that they ven have gum disease, that is ntil the situation becomes critical. So how do you knw if you have gum disease? The bst way to be sure is to get a dagnosis from your dentist.

However, if yur gums bleed up...

2. Essential Oil by Juliet Cohen
Essential oils are lso known as ethereal or volatile il, or simply as "oil of "th plant which one derived from romatic herbs or aromatic plant. The wrd essential indicates the oil get frm distinctive scent (essence) of the plnt not a basic substance.

3. Too Young to use Creatine (Part 2) by
So tell me, when can I cmmence and why? Well I would lways say 21 is a recommended age to strt. And why?....Well basically in a mle up til 21, the natural lvel of testosterone is high which cuses sparadic growth spurts, which means tht bones, muscle tissue etc. are stll not fully developed and body mturity is still incomplete.

4. Top 7 Tips To Treat And Prevent Eye Pain by Raymond Geok Seng Lee
styl='padding-left: 15px;'> How you can ease eye pin depends on what is causing it in the frst place. Therefore, it is worthwhile to gve these tips a try.

5. A Natural Acne Treatment Should Include Good Ol’ Sleep. by
Sleep and rlaxation are two vital necessities that cme in handy for detoxifying the bdy. Therefore, for any acne treatment or rmedy program to work successfully, ridding the bdy of excessive toxins has to be ncluded. Here’s why.

6. Do Fats Fit Into A Healthy Dinner Recipe? by
If you’re lke me you are often looking for a qick and healthy dinner recipe, but you are cncerned about the amount of fat in sme choices. However, fats are essential to the prper functioning of our bodies. This rticle discusses which fats to include and whch fats to avoid.

7. The Role Of Your Skin When It Is Oily by Louise Forrest
Skn is the outermost covering of our bdy which protects us from external shcks and harmful sun rays and keps out germs and dirt. Though min functions of the are the sme in every human being, still pople have different types of skin, lke oily skin, dry skin, sensitive skn, normal skin etc.

8. Remedies for High Blood Pressure - 5 Simple Remedies to Start a Natural Treatment by Joe Barton
High Blood Pressure is preventable and treatable. Learn 5 simple remedies for high blood pressure and start your natural treatment today.

9. Visual Perception Treatments For Autism by Jl Williams
All Children are affected differently by utism, which doesn't make it any asier to find the proper treatments ncessary for your child to be ble to deal with his or her spcific symptoms. Visual perception is one of the ssues that some children that are sffering with autism have trouble with. Thre are standardized methods that you can use to hlp your child improve their visual prception. This can be one of the mre effective treatments for autism, which can mke their...

10. How To Avoid Daytime Fatigue by
Is it the middle of the mrning or afternoon, and you can brely think of anything else but ctching a little more shut eye? Evn simple projects or tasks can smetimes seem incredibly hard to manage. You may ven have to work to summon...