We all know the importance of maintaining physical fitness. You don’t need to be able to run a marathon, but being active is one of the building blocks of overall health and wellness. It’s common knowledge that regular exercise boosts the immune system, and acts to prevent diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and aging – and even hearing loss!

Physical activity can also relieve anxiety, stress, and even depression, as well as aiding in regulating sleep cycles. What you might never have considered is how your workouts are affecting your hearing. While getting toned is a great goal, is paying the price of hearing loss worth it? Why not both! Here are some tips and tricks to get your beach body and save your hearing.

Avoid Strain

High intensity workouts such as CrossFit that combine cardio, core training and weightlifting are intended to push your body hard. If you do high intensity workouts though, watch out! Straining and breath holding are two common practices that are both damaging your hearing. How? Straining and holding your breath lead to intracranial pressure, or a build-up of pressure in the brain. This in turn creates pressure in the ear, which can damage or tear the thin membrane that rests between the middle and inner ear structures, allowing fluid from the inner ear to leak into the middle ear and cause hearing loss.

Any other activities that push you to your limits and place strain on your body could be damaging your hearing. Whether you run, lift weights, attend pilates classes or do intense yoga, be sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard or damaging your hearing.

Watch Out for Loud Gyms

If you are an avid gym member, make sure you’re aware of the risks. Most gyms are quite noisy, with crashing weights and booming music. According to Rachel Raphael, audiologist and fitness instructor in Baltimore, “even short durations of loud intense weights dropping can have the same potential damage to hearing as a shotgun blast or an air bag deploying.” That’s some serious business! Some classes, such as spin classes, use intensely loud music to motivate you to get the most out of your workout. If this sounds like your gym, beware. All that exposure to loud noises can cause Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), or lead to permanent tinnitus. Your gym is loud and you’re worried about your hearing? Protect your ears at the gym to avoid hearing loss. Invest in a pair of custom ear protective plugs!

Personal Listening Devices

Perhaps the greatest culprit of noise induced hearing loss is the pumping music blasting into your ears. Many of us find it difficult to work out without being plugged into our iPods or iPhones, playing that motivating music. It helps your workout, so it must be good, right? Wrong. Unsafe listening practices leads to NIHL for millions of Americans. Whether you’re running in the park or lifting weights at the gym, you’re used to cranking up the volume to keep you going, and to drown out distracting sounds.

If you listen at full or nearly full volume (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?), you’re going to experience permanent hearing loss in less than an hour. A good rule of thumb to keep you safe is the 60/60 rule. Never listen with the volume higher than 60%. This will keep it within safe sound levels. And take a break every 60 minutes. This gives your ears time to rest, safeguarding against hearing loss.

Experiencing Hearing Loss?

Don’t know if you have hearing loss from working out? Symptoms include a plugged feeling in the ears, muffled or fuzzy sounds, or a feeling of dizziness after a workout. You might also hear a ringing or buzzing sound, called tinnitus. Maybe this time it will fade away, but next time you might not be so lucky.

You know that working out is beneficial, both physically and mentally. If you exercise regularly you’ll be healthier, happier, and more mobile and active. Losing independence is a hard part of aging, and with regular exercise you’ll be active and independent. But be sure you exercise correctly, use safe listening practices, and avoid damaging your hearing.

If you or a loved one is struggling with hearing loss, visit Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services for a hearing assessment, and explore your options for hearing health.