Your Heart Only has so Many Beats...

stuffinmuffin
stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay...this is one from a colleague at work. He's in his 50's used to be in the forces and fire brigade etc and we were talking about exercise and the workouts that we do.

Then he regailed that back in his service days, there were always a bunch of guys that were doing marathons and cycling challenges etc and he then said in later years they seemed to be the ones with the most health concerns and a couple died of heart attacks.

Anyway...to cut a long story short, his theory is that your heart only has so many beats and maybe through indurance exercise you work it to an early grave.

Personally I think this is baloney, I mean think of all the atheletes that should have karked it by now. Paula Radcliffe would be a existential marvel!

But just wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts or had ever heard of this 'concept' before...?
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Replies

  • squatsanddeadlift
    squatsanddeadlift Posts: 117 Member
    Okay...this is one from a colleague at work. He's in his 50's used to be in the forces and fire brigade etc and we were talking about exercise and the workouts that we do.

    Then he regailed that back in his service days, there were always a bunch of guys that were doing marathons and cycling challenges etc and he then said in later years they seemed to be the ones with the most health concerns and a couple died of heart attacks.

    Anyway...to cut a long story short, his theory is that your heart only has so many beats and maybe through indurance exercise you work it to an early grave.

    Personally I think this is baloney, I mean think of all the atheletes that should have karked it by now. Paula Radcliffe would be a existential marvel!

    But just wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts or had ever heard of this 'concept' before...?

    Interesting concept...

    Obese people would use their hearts more.. maybe there is something in that!

    In all honesty we do only have a limited amount of time on this earth. We never know what is exactly right and what is wrong. The best we can do is what is right with the information you have, we kind of have to ignore alot of the blurb.
  • rayfu75
    rayfu75 Posts: 209 Member
    I have heard this many times. First time was in high school by my biology teacher. He was a paramedic and high level college wrestler. Also recently from a friend and jiu jitsu partner who also is a paramedic / firefighter. He also echoed the same theory that there are so many beats. Either way the heart is a muscle and muscles should be used in my opinion.
  • oedipa_maas
    oedipa_maas Posts: 577 Member
    It sounds like he's saying our heart's have a pre-determined number of beats, which is ludicrous! Heck, people improve their chances of living a long life through exercise (and other things, of course) all the time. If anything, people often extend their beats, so to speak, not reduce them through healthy living. That guy's theory is pure quackery. And his anecdotal evidence? Anecdotes do not equal data. So I'm with you.

    I did want to add that the title of this post is super poetic. Wish it didn't feature the ill thought-out ideas of someone you should not listen to.
  • sixout
    sixout Posts: 3,128 Member
    But like a car that only has so many miles, with proper maintenance it can go beyond what it was originally intended to do.

    Therefore the theory is dumb.
  • csman49
    csman49 Posts: 1,100 Member
    read this:
    http://www.runnersworld.com/health/how-many-heart-beats-do-we-get


    By exercising, although we are raising our BPM for a short duration, in the long haul, we are lowering our resting heart rate.

    Lets say, an average person has RHR of 80bpm. 80*60*24 (80bpm*1hr*24 hours) = 115200 beats in a day
    Now an average person who does a bit of cardio, and RHR reduces to 72bpm. But for 1 hour a day, it is 140bpm (during exercise)
    72*60*23 = 99360 + (72*60) = 103680

    Mr/Miss exerciser's heart is beating 11520 less beats per day. Or, from the example numbers i've given you, 1/10th less...

    over 70 years - 2943360000 beats v 2649024000 beats (294336000 less) = 2838 days more = 7.7 years extra.


    Doesn't sound like a huge amount extra... but i've taken random BPM's and used 70 years as an average lifespan. Feel free to work your own figures
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    But like a car that only has so many miles, with proper maintenance it can go beyond what it was originally intended to do.

    Love this analogy!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    This all sounds like a excuse to not workout when you get older. LOL
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    Every human heart only has so many beats that can be a figure applied universally? Or every individual human has their own predetermined number?

    If the latter, could that even be proved?

    I don't know, his theory and his anecdotes sound awfully like pretty handy justifications to NOT exercise to me. The runner who keels over at 40 during one of his runs is always somehow held up as an example and a warning against fitness, yet all the obese people who die of heart disease are nameless statistics who should be paid no mind to.
  • Kabiti
    Kabiti Posts: 191 Member
    To me this sounds more like an exercise of philosophy than of science.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Selection bias. He's only recalling what he felt were anomalies.




    Oh, and his theory is stupid.
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    To the best of my knowledge, it's never been proved definitively one way or another, probably because there are so very many other variables in the mix; environment, genetics, diet etc.

    My observation though is that I see a lot of older and elderly long-term runners at races and out training and every one of them looks to be more mobile, more able and getting more from life that the ones I see shuffling along in the town centre - how's that for a sweeping generalisation!
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Anyone believing such nonsense should abstain from sex as to avoid the increased heart rate and directly linked shorter life span.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Anyone believing such nonsense should abstain from sex as to avoid the increased heart rate and directly linked shorter life span.

    I've got a friend that says that sex is 50 strokes. True story
  • dammitjanet0161
    dammitjanet0161 Posts: 319 Member
    Sounds like he's the sort of person who said "see, I told you exercise is bad for you" when Jim Fixx died.
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  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Anyone believing such nonsense should abstain from sex as to avoid the increased heart rate and directly linked shorter life span.

    I've got a friend that says that sex is 50 strokes. True story

    A three pump chump wastes two and a half pumps.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    I've heard it many times, and it's dumb
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Anyone believing such nonsense should abstain from sex as to avoid the increased heart rate and directly linked shorter life span.

    I've got a friend that says that sex is 50 strokes. True story

    50 strokes. That sucks for him. Minute man
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    I help out with a running group. There is a doctor who comes in to give a talk once in awhile to new runners. He actually brings this up. According to him, this was once a belief in the medical community a long time ago. It is not based in fact and obviously the medical community no longer believes this.

    It's up there with a woman's uterus falling out if she runs.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    I am inclined to put this in the nonsense category, simply because it presumes the heart (a muscle) will never change, and all muscles can and do change.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I've heard that theory. I think they use animals as an example. Tortoises have very slow hearts and long lives, birds the opposite.

    Oh look, it even has a name.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbeat_hypothesis
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    Okay...this is one from a colleague at work. He's in his 50's used to be in the forces and fire brigade etc and we were talking about exercise and the workouts that we do.

    Then he regailed that back in his service days, there were always a bunch of guys that were doing marathons and cycling challenges etc and he then said in later years they seemed to be the ones with the most health concerns and a couple died of heart attacks.

    Anyway...to cut a long story short, his theory is that your heart only has so many beats and maybe through indurance exercise you work it to an early grave.

    Personally I think this is baloney, I mean think of all the atheletes that should have karked it by now. Paula Radcliffe would be a existential marvel!

    But just wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts or had ever heard of this 'concept' before...?

    I have read about ultra-endurance athletes and studies talking about heart damage from ultra-endurance athletes.

    http://running.competitor.com/2012/06/news/how-much-running-is-bad-for-your-heart_54331

    http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/heart-attack-risks-are-greater-for-athletes-who-compete-in-endurance-sports-263

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/when-exercise-is-too-much-of-a-good-thing/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
  • MaryJane_8810002
    MaryJane_8810002 Posts: 2,082 Member
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  • Debbjones
    Debbjones Posts: 278 Member
    It's up there with a woman's uterus falling out if she runs.

    Sorry but as we age, this can actually happen. It is called organ "prolapse". I don't know the numbers or how common it may be... but organ prolapse is REAL and special precautions need to be used by those with this condition when they run or do anything strenuous.

    Just saying... :smile:
  • veganbettie
    veganbettie Posts: 701 Member
    It's up there with a woman's uterus falling out if she runs.

    Sorry but as we age, this can actually happen. It is called organ "prolapse". I don't know the numbers or how common it may be... but organ prolapse is REAL and special precautions need to be used by those with this condition when they run or do anything strenuous.

    Just saying... :smile:

    this just made me kegal.

    anyone else?
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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'll bet the examples he was looking at probably had terrible diets, thinking their exercise would take care of all issues.

    Jim Fixx principle.

    Also the fact some may have had terrible genetics, and the exercise actually allowed them to go further than what might have been the case.

    Or are they indeed the examples of the ultra-endurance cardio having some bad side effects?
  • veganbettie
    veganbettie Posts: 701 Member
    This sounds like the tagline to some movie about a girl who has heart disease and falls in love with the captain of the football team. I guess maybe she's on the marching band or something too.

    "Your heart only has so many beats...what song will you play?"

    Blech!!! I'm not going to see it, that's for sure.

    I think that is called.... " A Beat to Remember"

    staring Mandy Moore.
  • 347Gigi
    347Gigi Posts: 99 Member
    I've heard it many times, and it's dumb


    This.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    Anyone believing such nonsense should abstain from sex as to avoid the increased heart rate and directly linked shorter life span.

    I've got a friend that says that sex is 50 strokes. True story

    A three pump chump wastes two and a half pumps.

    lol lol lol

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