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The activities that are beneficial for losing weight may not be necessarily good for your heart. Intensive gymming as a way to lose weight has come under the scanner after a spate of celebrities have suffered heart attack in gyms from comedian Raju Srivastava who's battling for his life in almost brain-dead condition to Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, due to spending too much time working on their fitness levels. Cardiologists are of the view that while moderate exercise can decrease your chances of heart attack, increasing the intensity of your workout beyond a point can reverse the benefits and make you more susceptible to cardiac deaths. (Also read: Comedian Raju Srivastava suffers heart attack in gym; is too much exercise bad for heart?)

Six-packs abs at the cost of your heart?

That picture-perfect sculpted body might come at the cost of your optimum heart health and the obsession to look better and attractive could inspire people to push themselves beyond a healthy limit. Some seemingly healthy people may be already suffering from cardiac issues as one generally does not have showcase any symptoms before it is too late. There is a need to assess your heart health first before you hit the gym with all the vigour.

"While the millennials and the citizens at large have become fitness conscious and wish to flaunt a selfie-friendly, picture-perfect physique, it has almost become an addiction to look attractive, flex muscles, keep posting selfies on social media to garner likes and garner attention. People forget that all they need to do is look and feel good from within. While pushing self to get one’s dreams realised is one way of motivating themselves to move ahead in life, why does one need to push the limits at the gym just to impress others with a six-pack ab?" says Dr Mickey Mehta-Global leading holistic health guru and corporate life coach.

"While exercising is very good to keep the body agile, flexible and healthy, overexerting self on the treadmill and using various fitness equipment takes a big toll on the heart which after all is only a muscle and for the pride of it the biggest muscle of the body. So, while exercising at the gym can give you brownie points you should also be careful not to go overboard," says Dr Mehta.

The holistic health guru lists other reasons why our heart may be suffering:

- High pressured life of pull and push will throw the heart’s rhythm out of gear. A steady rhythmic flow and pace of life ensures smooth functioning of the heart.

- Life is always in the fight and flight mode as a result of which the hormone cortisol which increases the rush of energy but takes away the blood flow from the core to the periphery makes the heart’s rhythm go off balance.

Modifying lifestyle to work on your heart health

- Slow, relaxed breathing and meditation can really support your heart

- Avoiding foods that agitate, irritate and inflame your body must be avoided. If the cellular inflammation remains constant because of bad food along with the constant rush, pull-push, lack of sleep and excessive exercises or intensive exercises, then the heart will certainly come under stress and might collapse sooner than you can imagine.

- Sleep is very important to wellness. Sleep with deep rest in a meditative frame of mind can really heal you, heal your lungs, digestive system, nervous system and your mind. All these in turn can make your heart healthy, harmonious and rhythmic.

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