“VYAYAMA (EXERCISE) PHYSIOLOGY IN AYURVEDA: EXPLORING BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF OPTIMAL EXERCISE LIMITS (ARDHA SHAKTI) TO PREVENT OVERTRAINING SYNDROME AND EXERCISE-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS.”

Abstract

Modern sports science increasingly identifies overtraining syndrome (OTS) and exercise-induced oxidative stress as premier threats to long-term athletic development and general physiological homeostasis. While contemporary exercise immunology and biochemistry rely on complex biomarkers to map the threshold between performance enhancement and systemic exhaustion, ancient Ayurvedic physiology established a highly precise, subjective, and clinically measurable framework known as Ardha Shakti (half of one's total physical capacity).

This article explores Vyayama (physical exercise) physiology within classical Ayurvedic treatises, establishing the biological markers of Ardha Shakti as predictive indicators that mimic contemporary ventilatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic thresholds. By integrating classical concepts of Dosha dynamics (Vata-Pitta-Kapha), Dhatu Agni (cellular metabolism), and Ojas (systemic immunity) with contemporary pathophysiological pathways of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and neuroendocrine dys-regulation, this treatise demonstrates how the systematic application of Ayurvedic limits safely bypasses the tipping point into overtraining.