Is your workout bad for you?

I should be one of the fittest 34-year-olds I know. I exercise at least four times a week, play football, do weights at the gym, jog regularly and eat everything I am meant to. Yet this week I feel positively awful. I am not talking about the nagging pains in my back, my sore Achilles tendons or that twinge behind the knees - those are the sort of drawbacks thousands of men like me cope with every morning in our quest for super-fitness.

No, last week I underwent a series of tests that everyone in their thirties should have. I was prodded and tweaked by four specialists who give the most thorough musculo-skeletal assessment available in London.

It turns out I am a walking, or shuffling, catalogue of minor musculo-skeletal malfunctions. My pelvis is skewed, my neck and back are tender and my running style is causing me problems. And all along, like most people who care about their bodies, I thought I was getting fit.

Physiotherapist Grant Plumbley told me that my pelvis had an "uptilt" on one side, and that I had poor "core stability".

Podiatrist Anne-Marie O'Connor videoed me running, Baywatch-style, in slow motion, concluding that my style was dysfunctional and that I suffered from a heel complaint called plantar fasciitis. Osteopath Jamie Last found a neck problem which manifested itself as shooting pains between my shoulders.

What is more, my family history (my father had a heart attack at 34) means I should get a thorough coronary check-up before reentering the cut and thrust of the Islington Midweek Football League next season.

While none of my glitches is particularly serious on its own, the upshot is that if I carry on training as usual, chances are I will continue to injure myself with depressing regularity.

In fact, before doing anything, I need to seek treatment for my wonky hip. As Plumbley explains: "There is no point trying to strengthen that area when the muscles are imbalanced. You need to correct the problem first by going to an osteopath."

Although many of my problems are "structural", they are worsened by sporting wear-and-tear. And I am not alone. Thousands of Londoners are damaging their bodies through misguided machismo.

We train through pain without the necessary physiotherapy. This ignorance not only costs us lost work days, especially with chronic lower-back problems, but could have repercussions for mobility in later life.

The kind of exercise we do in London - running on concrete, playing football on Astroturf, picking up a tennis racket after eight months' inactivity - exacerbates these musculo-skeletal problems. While the fast pace of urban living means we want the maximum result - no pain, no gain - in the shortest time.

Like the majority of people who do a lot of sport, I smugly thought I was doing myself good. My fitness regime includes football twice a week, jogging on Clapham Common (half on grass, half Tarmac), the odd swim, and weights. In other words, I have done what the experts told us - plenty of varied exercise.

So why do I feel in danger of conking out? Don't get me wrong, doctors agree that doing exercise is good for you. As Dr Phil Bell, clinical director of Bupa Wellness Centre, puts it: "Exercise is the key to successful ageing. Physical inactivity is as big a risk factor as high cholesterol or smoking."

Dr Bell has treated some of the biggest names in sport and is the sports-medicine specialist at the forthcoming Wimbledon. We discussed the fact that recurrent injuries mean having to give up sport for periods, which makes it harder to get back once recovered.

It is easy to slip into what Dr Bell calls "the vortex of disability". Your brain tells you certain exercises hurt, so you avoid them. Prolonged inactivity can lead to weight gain, lethargy and even depression. Keeping the machinery ticking over is vital.

The phrase which keeps on cropping up is "core stability". Having strong muscles around your pelvic and lumbar area is vital, especially if you decide to up the ante with your training. The way to improve core stability is to work out with a Swiss Ball in the gym or, better still, take up Pilates. Yes, the girly stuff.

Indeed, while women tend to balance their regimes with lowimpact stretching activities such as Yoga or Pilates, men scoff at anything that doesn't get us sweaty, knackered, and preferably aching for days after.

"That 'no pain, no gain' attitude is a misnomer and must be rethought," says Dr Bell, "We need the emphasis on quality exercise, not quantity. Little and often. Yes, a certain amount of pain is involved if you want to advance in training terms, but there is a point when it means you're actually doing yourself harm."

The risk of joint problems and arthritis connected to sporting activity is a hotly debated subject. One minute we are told running ruins your knees, next we are reassured that doing it in moderation could stave off osteoarthritis - which affects two million people in the UK - in your sixties.

Physiotherapist Grant Plumbley sums up my situation thus: "If you carry on exercising as you are without corrective treatment, you will continue to suffer minor niggles which will not only stop you from exercising, but may affect your mobility in later life."

In other words, wise up now, or it's Zimmer-time.