Unbalanced Or Extreme Workouts Can Lead To Thyroid Dysfunction

Written by Tanya Arora  • 

For those who can get their lazy bum moving, exercise and weight loss almost turn into an obsession! You’re often seen hitting the gym and eating healthy, trying to sculpt a body that’s been out of shape. While we laud your spirit and your hard work, we think you should slow it down a little and not focus on working out all the time.

Why?

Well, because you might be damaging your thyroid. The proper functioning of your thyroid is very important for your body as thyroid gland controls a lot of what goes on inside it. Any kind of abnormality in the functioning of your thyroid can make your body suffer from not just thyroid disease but also a number of other health problems. To elaborate it further, let’s discuss what thyroid dysfunction is and how extreme or unbalanced exercising and thyroid dysfunction are interrelated.

What Is Thyroid Dysfunction?

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Your thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped organ that’s located at the base of your neck, just below your Adam’s apple (1). This small gland is responsible for numerous bodily functions with the notable ones being hormone regulation and metabolism control (2).

If your thyroid gland stops working as it should, i.e. it’s unable to perform its roles, you’re said to suffer from thyroid dysfunction. Thyroid dysfunction can be of several types. However, the major thyroid diseases include hyperthyroidism (where the thyroid gland overworks), hypothyroidism (where the thyroid gland underworks), goiter, and nodules among others.

Each of these diseases have their own symptoms and causes. So, we’re not going to get into that right now as it’ll take forever to explain it all. You just need to know that the most major cause for an overactive or an underactive thyroid gland is your iodine intake. If you take too much iodine, you’ll get hyperthyroidism; if you take too little of it, you’ll get hypothyroidism (3).

With that being said, our focus today is going to be on hypothyroidism as that is the disease you can get by indulging in extreme or unbalanced workout sessions.

How Can Exercising Cause Hypothyroidism?

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Hypothyroidism has many symptoms. Excessive exhaustion, chronic weakness, memory issues, unwillingness to do anything, menstrual cycle issues, brittle nails, dry hair, puffy face, poor sleep quality, constipation, etc. are just some of its symptoms (4). If you happen to experience all or most of these symptoms together, you’re likely either suffering from an iodine deficiency or working out way more than you should.

When you work out too much, your body goes through a lot of stress. If you make excess exercising a regular thing, then your body is going to suffer from chronic stress, which can definitely throw its normal functioning off-balance. One of the functions that your stressful lifestyle of heavy exercising can impact is that of your thyroid glands, leading to hypothyroidism.

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Unbalanced workouts that do not focus on proper aerobics or heavy lifting can also have the same effect. For example, if you don’t dedicate enough time to aerobics, you don’t burn as many calories as you could. This is why aerobics should be your starting exercise and should last a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes. You can try activities like running, dancing, swimming or biking as aerobics. Too much lactic acid production whilst training can also disrupt your thyroid function.

The important question that arises here is: How do you know you’re working out too much?

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Well apart from the obvious sign, in terms of the amount of time you chalk out for exercising, there are other signs too. One we’ve already mentioned, which is of an unbalanced workout that’s not hard to detect. Other symptoms that indicate you’re exercising excessively are:

  • Muscle loss
  • Fat retention
  • Fatigue that refuses to go away
  • Mood swings
  • Digestion issues
  • Disturbed sleep
  • Depression
  • Poor brain function
  • Anxiety
  • Malaise in the afternoon
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Exercising, in general, is supposed to make you feel good. However, if you notice any of the above red flags, you’re either doing it wrong or overdoing it. Hence, in that case, it’s important for you to draw the line and strike the balance in your workout routines. Experts recommend combining aerobics with weight lifting to bring your thyroid gland back to normal (5). Also, you shouldn’t work out more than 2 and a half hours each week if you want your thyroid gland to work well.

In the end, we’d like to mention that it’s not just over-exercising that can cause thyroid issues. A sedentary lifestyle is just as bad and can consequently lead to hypothyroidism (6). So, don’t think that thyroid issues can serve as an excuse to save you from exercising! You still need to sweat it out. You just need to be careful as to how you go about it.

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