When Exercise Becomes Harmful: The Smarter Way to Exercise

Sep 26, 2025 - 09:59

Updated: 8 months ago

When Exercise Becomes Harmful: The Smarter Way to Exercise

For more than a decade, a woman struggling with chronic insomnia laced up her running shoes every morning, convinced that jogging would finally bring her the restful sleep she craved. Instead, her condition worsened—her feet burned at night, and sleep became even more elusive. Only after consulting a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner, who advised her to swap long-distance running for gentle stretching, tai chi, and yoga, did her sleep gradually improve. Within three months, her nights grew calmer and her energy more stable.

Guo Yucheng, director of the Contemporary Han Yi Yuan TCM Clinic in Taiwan, recounted this case on NTD’s “Health 1+1” program, a sister outlet of The Epoch Times. Many people become fixated on the idea that “exercise equals health.” From jogging to intense workouts that leave them drenched in sweat, they believe the more they train, the better their cardiopulmonary function. However, it is important to recognize that adopting the wrong approach or exercising excessively can cause chronic damage to the body.

Why Does Running Worsen Insomnia?

At first glance, this story seems puzzling. After all, countless studies show that exercise helps regulate sleep. So why did running worsen this woman’s insomnia? TCM explains this through the lens of “yin” and “yang” balance.

TCM divides the energy or “qi” inside our body into yin and yang.

Yin is cooling, moistening, and restorative—like water that nourishes the body and allows for deep rest at night.

Yang is warming, energizing, and activating—like fire that fuels daytime activity and vitality.

Ideally, yin and yang balance each other. Exercise is beneficial for people with too much yin and too little yang because it stimulates energy and circulation. However, for someone already yin-deficient and yang-excessive, vigorous activity like long-distance running depletes yin even further. Heavy sweating dries out the body’s “water,” leaving the “fire” unchecked. For the woman with insomnia, the burning sensation in her feet was a textbook sign of yin deficiency with hyperactive yang.

When ‘Daily Jogging’ Becomes a Chronic Problem

From a Western perspective, the explanation also makes sense. Moderate sweating helps regulate temperature and flush out some metabolic waste. However, excessive sweating strips the body of sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes, which are crucial for nerve signaling, muscle contraction, and heart rhythm. Severe imbalances can lead to cramps, abnormal heart rhythms, and fatigue.

Sports medicine has long recognized overtraining syndrome: intense exercise without proper rest disrupts levels of hormones such as cortisol and testosterone, resulting in impaired sleep and increased anxiety. What TCM describes as “yin depletion” corresponds closely to these physiological stress responses.

TCM Warnings About Sweat and the Environment

Both TCM and Western medicine agree that exercise is not universally beneficial in the same way for everyone.

Modern guidelines often suggest standardized formulas—30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week, or training at 60 percent of maximum heart rate. While useful for the general population, these one-size-fits-all rules can backfire. Strenuous exercise during menstruation may worsen menstrual irregularities; training in hot, humid weather raises cardiovascular strain and increases the risk of heatstroke; and exercising while ill can suppress immunity and slow recovery.

Another TCM perspective highlights the danger of sweating excessively in the wrong environment.

Many people insist on exercising outdoors in the summer, hoping to detoxify through additional sweating. However, Guo said that true detoxification happens through the liver, gallbladder, and normal urination and defecation, not through sweating, which he said can harm the body.

Sweat opens the pores, making the body vulnerable to external pathogens—what TCM calls the “six evils”: wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire. Entering a cold or drafty environment while still drenched in sweat can invite rheumatism, headaches, or chronic joint pain.

Guo said he only practices tai chi outdoors when the weather is pleasant—not too cold and not too hot. At other times, he prefers to exercise indoors. He also observed that many of his patients’ conditions worsen after exercising outdoors.

To avoid harmful effects from sweating, it is recommended to:

Dry yourself and change into dry clothes after exercise.
Rest briefly before entering an air-conditioned room after exercising or sweating.
Avoid setting the air conditioner at too low a temperature.
Avoid drinking very cold water immediately after exercise.
Avoid sitting in a drafty or cold environment for extended periods after sweating.

How Can a Rapid Heartbeat Cause Harm?

Beyond the harmful effects of excessive sweating, increased heart rate during exercise can cause discomfort for some people. Guo, citing the theory of qi and blood distribution in the meridians, noted that when the heart rate rises from 72 beats per minute to 120, blood flow distribution in the body changes dramatically.

During this period, blood flow is prioritized to the limbs and superficial muscles, reducing blood flow to internal organs such as the liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys. This can lead to poor digestion and absorption and may weaken the body’s immunity and repair capacity.

Therefore, it is not advised to exercise right after eating, eat immediately after exercise, or force yourself to exercise when you are weak or ill.

What Is the Best Exercise for Most People?

Guo recommends low-energy, internally nourishing exercises, which are particularly suitable for middle-aged and older people and those with chronic illnesses. These include tai chi, body stretching, tendon pulling, and yoga.

These gentle exercises are also highly recommended by Western health experts and physical therapists. Studies have found that tai chi classes can improve physical strength and quality of life for patients with coronary heart disease.

A simple guideline can help distinguish healthy from excessive exercise:

Healthy exercise: Slight sweating, a slightly increased heart rate but no panting, a relaxed spirit, and normal appetite and mood.

Excessive exercise: Panting, profuse sweating, dizziness, and fatigue during exercise; loss of appetite, irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep afterward.

Beyond Muscle: Exercise, Digestion, and Aging

Finally, Guo highlighted sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Many people try to fight it with heavy resistance training and protein powders. However, in TCM, the root cause often lies in a weak spleen and stomach—the organs responsible for digesting and transforming food into qi, blood, and muscle.

Weight training without proper digestive function can further reduce appetite and weaken the body. Western research supports this insight: older adults often experience “anabolic resistance,” meaning their bodies become less efficient at building muscle after exercise. Gut bacteria also play a key role in muscle health.

Therefore, both traditions stress that preventing sarcopenia requires not just exercise and protein but also digestive support and balance.

The True Purpose of Exercise

True well-being comes from choosing the right activity, intensity, and timing for your body type—not from blindly following trends. In both TCM and Western science, the message is the same: Exercise should nourish, not exhaust—only then does it become a path to long-term health and longevity.