Do You Really Need to Consult a Doctor Before You Start Exercising?
I’m sure you’ve heard it all over the place: check with your doctor before starting any exercise program. This is the standard rejection of any fitness advice that most of us probably ignore. But should you? Not necessarily, it turns out.
Why should you consult your doctor before exercising?
The fear underlying this oft-repeated claim is that there are rare cases where a person may die suddenly while exercising. When this happens, it usually happens to a person who (a) had some underlying medical problem; (b) not used to exercise; and (c) did very intense exercise for which they were not prepared.
For a long time, many medical and fitness professionals believed that the best way to solve this problem was to focus on the first part: people who have an underlying health problem. And since not everyone knows if they have it, you should also see a doctor if you may have an underlying medical problem. Or if you had a family history of a medical problem.
While this sounds like a good idea, screening has gotten out of hand. One of the most common screening tools was a questionnaire that asked about your own health, as well as how old you are, whether you smoked, and whether you were overweight. One 2014 study found that it affects more than 90% of middle-aged and older people . In other words, these are people who will not be allowed to play sports until they receive medical clearance.
With the cost and availability of health care in this country (not to mention the hassle of getting appointments, taking time off when needed, etc.), this is a huge barrier for many people. Pretty ironic, given that exercise is good for health.
The American College of Sports Medicine dug into the numbers and found that the risks they were looking at were very common; the outcomes they were trying to prevent were very rare (one study had one sudden cardiac death in 1.5 million intense workouts), and screening people based on risk factors did not actually reduce the number of people dying during exercise.
How to know if you’re the kind of person who really should consult a doctor before exercising
The current recommendations for pre-exercise screening of people have been changed. The American College of Sports Medicine now says that “most people can exercise without first seeing a doctor.” The current guidelines that most gyms and trainers should use only use three factors to test people:
- How much are you currently exercising
- Do you have signs or symptoms of certain diseases
- How intense would you like to train
The health conditions that cause this second point are cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney diseases. If you have diabetes, it is a metabolic disease. If you have been told that you have heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, or cerebrovascular disease, it is considered a cardiovascular disease.
Even if you have one of these conditions, you can usually play sports if you have been cleared by your doctor in the last 12 months (and your condition has not worsened since then) or if you already exercise regularly and just want to keep going. same level. There is a flowchart here to help you answer the question do you need a medical clearance .
Even without a prior diagnosis, the signs and symptoms of these previously mentioned conditions mean that you should stop exercising and consult your doctor before continuing. These include shortness of breath at rest or with mild activity; chest, arm, or jaw pain; dizziness or fainting; other. If you’re wondering if you qualify, start by taking the PAR-Q test , which consists of seven yes or no questions; if you answer yes to any of them, there is a longer questionnaire called PAR-Q+ that gets more detailed.
Compared to the old recommendations, the proportion of people over 40 who need to undergo a medical examination before playing sports has almost halved . And according to the same guidelines, the visit to the doctor itself is likely to be much easier. Specific tests are no longer recommended; what happens during this visit depends on your doctor and his clinical judgment.
So yes, some people still need to consult a doctor before starting an exercise program. But far from everyone. Most people can start right away, and even people with medical conditions will likely be told that there are some exercises they can do.