Vinod Nathaniel - Doctor & Personal Trainer

Vinod Nathaniel - Doctor & Personal Trainer Ophthalmic Surgeon & Certified Fitness Trainer
Amateur triathlete & Ultra runner
Freelance dietician

26/08/2026

Is running 3 days a week safer than running 5?

Not automatically.

Three running days can work very well for beginners, injury-prone runners, busy individuals and hybrid athletes who also do substantial strength training.

But squeezing intervals, tempo and a long run into three days can make every run demanding—and may create larger load spikes.

For an experienced runner, five days may distribute the weekly volume more comfortably:

1 interval session
1 tempo session
1 long run
2 genuinely easy runs

Those easy runs aren’t “junk mileage.” They help build aerobic capacity, running economy and durability without adding excessive stress.

The right frequency depends on:

Training history
Total weekly volume
Intensity distribution
Injury status
Recovery
Goals

Three days can be enough.

But five days isn’t automatically too much simply because it is five.

Follow giftoffitness for practical, evidence-informed training advice.

26/08/2026

⚠️Correction in the video regarding coronary CT included below:

A normal ECG, echo, cholesterol report and treadmill test do not necessarily mean your coronary arteries are free of plaque.

Each test answers a different question:

ECG checks the heart’s electrical activity.

Echo evaluates its structure, valves and pumping function.

A lipid profile measures factors associated with plaque development.

A treadmill test looks for exercise-induced ischaemia, arrhythmias, symptoms and abnormal blood-pressure responses.

But none of these directly visualises coronary plaque.

⚠️Correction in the video: A calcium score detects calcified plaque, while CT coronary angiography can identify both calcified and non-calcified plaque, estimate narrowing and reveal certain higher-risk plaque features.⚠️

Even CT angiography cannot reliably confirm that a plaque is inflamed, predict that it will rupture or tell us when rupture might occur.

These are valuable tests—but no single normal report is a “cardiac clearance certificate.” Testing must be chosen according to the athlete’s age, symptoms, family history and overall cardiovascular risk.

Fitness lowers cardiovascular risk. It does not make us immune to coronary disease.

Stay tuned for reel 6.

He was an elite athlete who trained correctly.He paced sensibly.He hydrated, slept well and followed the race protocol.Y...
25/08/2026

He was an elite athlete who trained correctly.

He paced sensibly.

He hydrated, slept well and followed the race protocol.

Yet he still collapsed.

How can this happen?

Regular exercise greatly reduces cardiovascular risk—but fitness does not guarantee clean coronary arteries.

Plaque may develop silently over many years because of LDL, lipoprotein(a), high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, kidney disease, family history or previous anabolic-steroid abuse.

An experienced runner may continue training and racing well because the plaque is not significantly restricting blood flow. Some vulnerable plaques are relatively small and may cause no warning symptoms.

A resting ECG and treadmill test can reduce risk by detecting certain abnormalities, but they cannot directly show every plaque or reliably predict which one might rupture.

During a hard race, heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline, oxygen demand and clotting tendency all rise. In a susceptible artery, this may trigger plaque disruption, clot formation, loss of blood flow and a dangerous ventricular arrhythmia.

The race usually did not create the plaque.

It revealed an underlying vulnerability.

The lesson is not “don’t run.”

The lesson is: don’t assume that being lean, fast, strong or experienced makes you immune.

Know your risk factors.
Act on new exertional symptoms.
Investigate an unexplained decline in performance.
And support races with trained CPR responders and accessible AEDs.

25/08/2026

Two athletes can have the same body-fat percentage, run the same race times and look equally fit—yet have very different cardiac risks.

Fitness reduces cardiovascular risk. It does not erase:

• High LDL or lipoprotein(a)
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes or smoking
• Premature family history of coronary disease
• Chronic poor sleep
• Previous anabolic steroid or other PED abuse
• New chest pressure, breathlessness, palpitations or fainting
• An unexplained decline in exercise performance

None of these alone proves that an athlete has dangerous coronary plaque. But symptoms, multiple risk factors or a strong family history should prompt proper cardiovascular assessment—especially before very intense training or racing.

Your race time tells us what your body can perform today.
It does not reveal everything happening inside your coronary arteries.

Next: What ECG, cholesterol testing and TMT can—and cannot—detect.

24/08/2026

In the previous reel we saw what high intensity exercise can do in presence of obstructive or ruptured plaques. Here, we see what we can do to reduce the incidence of such attacks.

Rest well.
Eat healthy and in adequate portions.
Sleep well.
Reduce stress.

Keep in touch with exercise, be consistent.

Reel 4: Identifying high risk athletes- STAY TUNED.

24/08/2026

CAN EXERCISE TRIGGER a cardiac arrest?

Hard exercise usually does not create a coronary blockage from scratch.

The danger begins when an athlete already has a vulnerable plaque inside a coronary artery—sometimes without any symptoms.

During intense exercise:

Heart rate and blood pressure rise
The heart requires more oxygen
Stress hormones increase
Blood flow places greater force on the arterial wall

In a susceptible person, this may contribute to plaque rupture or erosion. A blood clot then forms over the damaged surface and can suddenly restrict blood supply to the heart.

The oxygen-starved heart muscle becomes electrically unstable. A premature ventricular beat arriving at the wrong moment may trigger ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.

The heart stops pumping effectively—and the athlete collapses in cardiac arrest.

Episode 3 of Cardiac Safety for Athletes Above 35.

Next: Part 3A: Is exercise dangerous? How to regulate exercise safely

23/08/2026

Atherosclerotic plaques can occur even for people running sub 4 marathons, lifting weights thrice a week and those who eat a "clean" diet, but exercise does play a major role in reducing chances of complications due to plaques.

The next reel will focus on high intensity exercise leading to plaque rupture.

23/08/2026

The tightest blockage is not necessarily the plaque most likely to rupture.

Coronary plaque does not simply sit inside an artery like grease inside a pipe.

LDL particles enter the artery wall, where they become trapped. Immune cells arrive to remove them, but this response creates further inflammation. Over time, cholesterol, inflammatory cells and cellular debris accumulate beneath a fibrous cap.

But not every plaque behaves the same way.

A large plaque with a thick, stable cap may gradually restrict blood flow and produce symptoms during exertion.

A smaller plaque with a thin, inflamed cap may cause little narrowing and remain completely silent—yet be more vulnerable to rupture.

This is why fitness, the absence of symptoms and even the ability to exercise hard do not guarantee that the coronary arteries are free of disease.

Episode 2 of Cardiac Safety for Athletes Above 35.

Next: How intense exercise can turn a silent plaque into a cardiac emergency.

22/08/2026

You may run a sub-four-hour marathon and still have coronary plaque.

Sudden cardiac arrest during sport is rare, and regular exercise greatly reduces overall cardiovascular risk. But fitness does not create immunity from heart disease.

Around the age of 35, the pattern behind exercise-related cardiac arrest begins to change.

In younger athletes, inherited heart-muscle diseases, congenital abnormalities and electrical disorders are more prominent causes.

Above 35, coronary artery disease becomes the most common underlying cause.

Thirty-five is not a magical cut-off, and turning 35 does not suddenly make exercise dangerous. It is simply a practical dividing line after which cardiac safety should include more than pace, mileage and VO₂ max.

Symptoms, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, smoking history and family history still matter—even in fast, experienced athletes.

Keep exercising. Just don’t mistake fitness for immunity.

Episode 2: How coronary plaque develops—and why the most dangerous plaque may not be the one causing the greatest blockage.

This series is for general education and does not replace individual medical assessment.

Address

Gift Of Sight Nursing Home, Simco Meter Road
Tiruchirappalli
620021

Opening Hours

Monday 1pm - 3pm
Tuesday 1pm - 3pm
Wednesday 1pm - 3pm
Thursday 1pm - 3pm
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Saturday 1pm - 3pm

Telephone

+914312459275

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