My interview in The telegraph

This article with my quote got published in The Telegraph. You can see the online link here.
This is what it says.

Wake-up call

You’re in for a rude shock if you think that pushing harder can get you in shape faster, says Saimi Sattar

When Ishan Choudhary, 38, first felt a stab of pain in his left shoulder a week after in-building diving-push-ups in his fitness routine, he ignored it. He figured he was supremely fit and could take a few aches and pains. A techie, Choudhary had been combining kickboxing sessions with intense workouts at the gym for over three years. From 30-minute sessions initially, his workouts now touched an alarming eight hours a day split over four hours each in the morning and evening. However, the pain persisted for weeks and Choudhary continued to exercise. The pain became excruciating and stayed with him even when he wasn’t exercising. Not surprisingly, he was diagnosed as a case of over-exercise — a condition that is increasingly catching up with fitness freaks. Or take Shwetank Bansal, 28, a long-distance runner and body-builder — a classic case of a person who over- exercises. He does a cardio workout for 70-80 minutes in the morning and muscle-building for nearly two hours in the evening. He even pops painkillers to stick to his exercise schedule. With the benefit of hindsight, he reels off problems that accompany over-exercising: “Hair-fall, under-eye circles, muscle soreness and breakdown, backaches and tissue breakdown. And depression if you are unable to keep up the fitness routine.” The reason for his frenetic pace is obvious. Five years ago Bansal tipped the scales at 120kg. Today, he weighs 86 kg and is determined not to gain back the odious kilos. Prateek Gupta, consultant orthopedic and sports surgeon and head of sports medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says: “Since 2002, there’s been a 200 per cent rise in patients with over-exercise related injuries.” Over-exercising can have disastrous results. As they pursue six-pack or eight-pack abs or a size zero figure in a specific time period, people are hitting the gym with a vengeance. And this coupled with hitting a plateau despite intense exercise is playing trouble-maker. Besides, ill- informed trainers also egg on their clients to overdo it. WHAT IS OVER-EXERCISING? While exercising, keep in mind the FIT (Frequency, Intensity and Time) principle. Kiran Sawhney of Fitnesolutions, Delhi says: “Increase either the frequency or intensity or time duration at a time. All three or even two at the same time mustn’t be increased.” She says that there’s a threshold level for the body and people who lead sedentary lives must go slow when they start exercising. Conversely, for someone who exercises regularly, 45 minutes to an hour, five to six times a week is enough. A day’s rest in-between is essential.