Over the last 10 years, we have seen an explosion in the popularity of high intensity cardio workouts. Millions of people have incorporated everything from basic aerobics to Insanity classes and the once very popular Zumba regimen. Every year, newer and tougher high impact cardio programs tend to make the top fitness trends.

But is high intensity cardio harmful to your health? Can too much of a good thing be bad when it comes to pressing your cardiovascular system beyond a reasonable point? There is no doubt physical fitness and activity is one of the best preventative medicines to maintain overall health and wellness. Studies have found the correct amount of physical activity can keep you in peak mental health, reduce stress, fight type-2 diabetes and even keep cancers in check.

We all know that good heart health is yet another benefit of physical fitness. But when does too much cardio start to work against your health? Athletic heart syndrome is a somewhat understood health concern that tends to affect endurance athletes, but not all agree to the cause and effect. With chronic distance runners, it has been found that scarring of the heart muscle can develop, leading to thickening of portions of the heart, which can impact heart function.

But that still leaves the questions around chronic high impact group fitness. Is there a risk of developing health issues from excessive high intensity cardio? Some studies are finding a link to enlargement of your heart that can lead to diastolic dysfunction. This can then lead to heart failure, but the link between high impact cardio and heart damage is not very clear. There seems to be a number of factors that lend to the confusion around identifying cause and effect in these studies. Past health issues, poor lifestyle habits and other pre-existing medical conditions makes this question more about should you do high impact cardio and to what level.

Most well trained and certified fitness professionals take a progressive approach: start a slow pace in their classes and ensure proper warm up and cool down in their regimens. They also know 20 to 40 minutes is usually enough moderate exercise for their average clients. They never recommend taking their classes daily and most people keep their high intensity workouts to two or three days a week. The other interesting aspect to the amount of high impact cardio is the fact that there is a perfect amount to maintain optimal health. In other words, your average non-competitive athlete will get the maximum benefit from three hours a week of high impact cardio, so doing it 6 hours a week does not net you any additional gains. This is also true for elite athletes, just the amount of time and miles ran changes.

The fact that more is not always better when it comes to high impact cardio gets lost on so many people. In fact, not following a program with moderation leads to a high level of folks dropping out of classes and even stopping much needed cardiovascular conditioning.

The best approach when it comes to taking part in high impact cardio is ask yourself if you are a good candidate for this type of exercise? Do you have pre-existing conditions that may be adversely affected by the jarring nature and major demand the exercise will place on your cardiovascular system and other areas of your body. A good example of a risk factor for older people is if you have osteoporosis, which could lead to fractures, so it is not always about heart health.

If you elect to take up high impact cardio training, you need to really consider your current level of physical fitness and take into account the intensity and stress that comes with this type of exercise. I would also recommend getting a physical from your health care provider or at least check with your doctor if you have pre-existing health issues.

So does high impact cardio have potential to create health problems in some people the simple answer is yes. Does long-term chronic exercise have harmful effects on our bodies and the answer is again yes. Does science behind this have a clear picture as to how much exercise is too much and do we understand all the mitigating factors around inflammation and muscle scarring that occurs in the human body tied to exercise, no. However, the science, research and studies are fast tracking and a much better understanding is coming to light every year.

High impact cardio is not for everyone and great health can be developed and maintained with low impact exercises just as effectively for many of you. Your best bet is do your homework on your body, understand your health limits and work closely with your health care providers and fitness professionals to build an appropriate exercise routine. Start slow and build up to the exercise’s levels which give you the most gain with the least adverse impact to your body and health.

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Judd Jones is a director for The Hagadone Corporation in Coeur d’Alene.