Doing this type of exercise, could be damaging your heart

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  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I have read several articles about overtraining leading to heart damage, particularly I believe for men over a certain age? What this basically means is that if you are in marathon training/iron man type training and you are pushing yourself to run hard for hours you might want to rethink that, particularly if you are older.

    But at what age?

    There are men and women 80+ that compete in Ironman Triathlons.

    We all die..
    I believe it was 40's or 50's? I didn't read the mercola article, but I have seen studies on this in other places. That's not to say you should stop exercising, but if you are pushing your heart above a certain threshold too long it can cause damage. That's all. Oh here I found an article that cites a NEJM study: http://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2012/01/marathon-runners-can-die-from-heart-attacks.html
    "It's interesting to note that most of the heart attack victims were on average 42 year old men"

    Also, if you're in your 80's, I imagine you don't care anymore about dropping dead.
    That increased risk is still much lower than someone who does not exercise.
    This is perfectly valid, the question is are you at an increased risk at 50 miles a week verses 30. If that is the case, then it's good information for people to know. If you are doing it because you love it, like jumping out of an airplane, great. If you are doing it because you think it's healthier to do MORE miles, than you should know if that isn't true. I'm not sure if the research is conclusive yet.

    I understnad your point though I'm not sure you get to 50, even 30, miles a week without loving it.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    *** Article ***

    I'd like to open up the floor for discussion on the content of this article, give it a look and drop your comments and opinions in the comment section.


    I think the amount of people who participate in these type of events are a small portion of people who like to exercise.

    And I know from experience, that people training for extreme events are a lot more likely to have fatal injuries from cars, and if they avoid the cars, are a lot more likely to die from dehydration/heat stroke than a heart conditon.

    All in all, it's a dangerous world no matter what you do. You will most likely get hurt doing active stuff, but sitting on the couch will kill you.
  • resistance_freak
    resistance_freak Posts: 899
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    Oh here I found an article that cites a NEJM study: http://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2012/01/marathon-runners-can-die-from-heart-attacks.html
    "It's interesting to note that most of the heart attack victims were on average 42 year old men"
    The study forund that out of nearly 11 million marathoners, 42 had fatal heart attacks.

    That is a rate of about .4 of 100,000

    To put this in context the rate of you dying by being hit by lightening is .8 of 10000.

    So the risk of dying from running a marathon is half that of dying from getting struck by lightning.

    You also have a much greater chance of dying in a car accident while driving to the gym to do your treadmill HIIT session.

    In the greater scheme of things this is not much to worry about.
    QF to the f***ing T!

    I had to re-read the numbers to make sure I wasn't seeing things! I can't believe this was even published anywhere. This rate of cardiac events is so infinitesimally small that no one using logical thinking would worry about it AT ALL. But you put it in an article with an alarming headline and note that the rate has increased over time and suddenly people think it's something to concern themselves with.

    There is so much confusing and downright bad information out there when it comes to diet and exercise, it drives people crazy. Maybe we should re-think this whole internet thing, and giving everyone a voice. oh, I guess it might be a little late for that. That Genie is out of the bottle. We just really need to learn to be better consumers of information now since we're getting it from all angles and in such incredible amounts.

    Just my $0.02
  • TyTy76
    TyTy76 Posts: 1,761 Member
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    I believe it was 40's or 50's? I didn't read the mercola article, but I have seen studies on this in other places. That's not to say you should stop exercising, but if you are pushing your heart above a certain threshold too long it can cause damage. That's all. Oh here I found an article that cites a NEJM study: http://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2012/01/marathon-runners-can-die-from-heart-attacks.html
    "It's interesting to note that most of the heart attack victims were on average 42 year old men"

    Also, if you're in your 80's, I imagine you don't care anymore about dropping dead.

    Interesting. The men and women that win the Ironman World Championships are routinely in there lower 40s.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    No one who runs 30 miles a week considers bumping up to 50 miles for health and fitness purposes... it's always another driving factor for marathoners, ultra-marathoners, triathletes. None of these people would be motivated to cut back mileage unless a doctor told them they were putting their lives at risk by doing as much as they do.
  • GBPack93
    GBPack93 Posts: 76
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    60 mile per week runner, and I never get sick anymore since I started running and I disagree with most of the article's points.
    His main points against were

    1. Your body can enter a catabolic state, in which your tissues break down.
    A catabolic state is what creates weight loss, so people looking to lose weight would benefit from running. Those that are not looking to lose weight could simply eat more, nutrition is key but this one is avoidable.

    2. Excess cortisol (a stress hormone) can be released, which not only contributes to catabolism but also to chronic disease
    Personally running is a stress reducer for me. Whether it be a quick 10k or Three hours around my city I find running as a good stress reliever and something that really helps me control my temper.

    3.You can develop microscopic tears in your muscle fibers (which may fail to heal if you continue over-exercising), and increased risk for injuries
    Muscles tear when being exercised, the same is true for weight lifting. Muscles develop small tears which will heal with rest and proper nutrition and will be beneficial for muscle growth.

    4. Your immune system may be weakened
    Speaking on a personal level I have never gotten anything worse than a common cold since I started running. If anything I feel that my immune system was strengthened.

    5. You may develop insomnia, especially if your workout is in the afternoon or evening
    Insomnia cannot be directly related to distance running and usually stems from other sources. While I agree you sometimes may have a hard time sleeping if you go for a run and then immediate try to go to bed, overall I don't think that this is related to running.

    Overall I don't think distance running is unhealthy at all unless you have a preexisting medical condition that would affect you, or if you are not getting adequate nutrition and rest.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    It's Mercola. I'm not even going to waste my time.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Had I not gotten out of my Recliner 4 years ago at 560 lbs. and consuming well over 10,000 calories a day there is little doubt I would not be sitting here typing this today... I have very bad knee's so I wear custom fitted braces for land exercises and lap swimming 2+ miles at a stretch now and enjoy endurance cardio more than the quick paced stuff. 4 years ago I couldn't walk this morning I did a 70 minute weight lifting routine and 40 minutes incline treadmill to start my 6 day exercise week... I will gladly take the lifestyle I am leading now over the one where I was stuck in my house for over 2 years. If I drop dead tomorrow of a heart attack well then it just must of been my time.... :drinker:


    And Yes Mercola is a Quack...... :tongue:
  • Scott_2025
    Scott_2025 Posts: 201 Member
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    Great discussion. I definitely want to follow this one.
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
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    Article is a load of poo; the star athletes he speaks of fall into one of two categories: 1) they had a genetic heart defect from birth they were unaware of or 2) they were eating tons of artery clogging crap daily because they could get away with it without gaining weight because they exercised so much. Exercising a lot does not give you cart blanch to put crappy fuel into your machine.

    You wouldn't put water or even regular unleaded fuel into your Ferrari engine...why would you put poor fuel into your body?
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
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    Oh here I found an article that cites a NEJM study: http://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2012/01/marathon-runners-can-die-from-heart-attacks.html
    "It's interesting to note that most of the heart attack victims were on average 42 year old men"
    The study forund that out of nearly 11 million marathoners, 42 had fatal heart attacks.

    That is a rate of about .4 of 100,000

    To put this in context the rate of you dying by being hit by lighteneing is .8 of 10000.

    So the risk of dying from running a marathon is half that of dying from getting struck by lightning.

    You also have a much greater chance of dying in a car accident while driving to the gym to do your tradmill HIIT session.

    In the greater scheme of things this is not much to worry about.
    Absolutely agree. Was going to pop on and say even if there is an increase in risk, it is pretty small, but got busy.
    I understnad your point though I'm not sure you get to 50, even 30, miles a week without loving it.
    Probably true, although I do think some people think if X is good, X+1billion is better. A physician on another site talks about 'minimum effective dose'. I think that is a good way to look at exercise for fitness alone (not just for joy). What is the minimum effective dose of cardio, weights, etc to reach your goals.
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    People who do Ironman triathlons, marathons, etc don't do it for the health benefits for the most part. We do it because we enjoy the hell out of it. The health benefits are a nice side effect. If you told me I was going to lose 5 years off my life by doing multiple Ironman events every year I wouldn't really care. I participate in these events for the competition, the camaraderie, and a litany of other reasons. You don't spend 20 hours a week (on peak weeks) training because of health benefits.

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