Intense Exercise & Potential Heart Damage (aka Athlete's Heart)
From Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin by Scicomm Media
May 13, 2026 · 1h 45m · Episode 25
About this episode
This episode explores the concept of athlete's heart and the cardiovascular adaptations in endurance athletes, discussing both beneficial and concerning changes.
In this episode, I cover "athlete's heart" — the paradox where the same cardiovascular adaptations that make endurance athletes exceptional can also mimic, and sometimes mask, real risk. I trace the history of what’s now known as exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling (EICR), and walk through what's actually happening structurally, functionally, and electrically in a trained heart. I separate adaptive changes like left ventricular dilation and increased stroke volume from genuinely concerning issues such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, coronary calcification, and myocardial fibrosis. I also answer the question, "is too much exercise bad for the heart?" This episode is for endurance athletes, lifters, coaches, along with anyone who might have a family history of heart disease. Show notes: https://www.performpodcast.com/episodes/athletes-heart-intense-exercise-heart-damage Sponsors Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/perform TrueMed: https://truemed.com/perform Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/perform Chapters (00:00:00) Introduction & the Athlete's Heart Paradox (00:07:11) History of Athlete's Heart (00:09:24) Heart Anatomy & Physiology Primer…
People in this episode
Host: Dr. Andy Galpin
Topics covered
- athlete's heart
- exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling
- heart health
- endurance training
- cardiovascular adaptations
Keywords
- athlete's heart
- exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- atrial fibrillation
- heart disease
- endurance athletes
- cardiovascular health
Sponsors
Momentous, TrueMed, Eight Sleep
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