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Too Much Exercise May Not Be Better Than a Sedentary Lifestyle

Posted by Soulskill on from the everything-in-moderation dept.

jones_supa writes: The importance of exercise has been arriving in spades for geek culture. However, when approaching extremes, a point is reached where vigorous jogging erodes some of the benefits light jogging has over a sedentary lifestyle. "Long-term excessive exercise may be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction and large artery wall stiffening," wrote lead author Peter Schnohr of Copenhagen's Frederiksberg Hospital in a Danish study (abstract). Although previous research has found that physically active people have at least a 30% lower risk of death compared with inactive people, the ideal amount of exercise remains somewhat uncertain. In this study, strenuous joggers — people who ran faster than 11 km/h for more than 4 hours a week; or who ran faster than 11 km/h for more than 2.5 hours a week with a frequency of more than three times a week — had a mortality rate that is not statistically different from that of the sedentary group. Medical journalist Larry Husten notes that this study, while interesting, should not be taken as the final word on the subject.

8 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Jogging sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lift weights

    1. Re:Jogging sucks by Jeremi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Lift weights

      Lifting weights is incredibly boring. Ride your bike :)

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  2. Ummm .... duh? by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who hasn't seen some of these joggers who do it obsessively?

    I've seen a bunch of people who look skinny and emaciated from being jogging freaks. At a certain point you look like you're ill -- and quite disturbingly so.

    Hell, back when I used to go to the gym there used to be one lady on the treadmill ... she stayed on it for hours, and essentially looked terrible to the point it looked like she could probably use some therapy ... she looked anorexic.

    That's not healthy, that's obsessive.

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    1. Re:Ummm .... duh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If they look skinny and emaciated then they're doing it wrong. Regardless of how much jogging or other exercise you do, if you're eating correctly, you won't be skinny and emaciated.

  3. Too much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Too Much Exercise May Not Be Better Than a Sedentary Lifestyle

    Too Much

    Well, that seems true by definition.

  4. Re:The biggest failure of science: by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Runners High... It's like Heroin. They are no different than junkies.

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  5. Re:The biggest failure of science: by envelope · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You'd probably like it better if you didn't do it on a treadmill. Get outside! It's much more enjoyable than a treadmill.

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  6. So... by sootman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So... "everything in moderation"? Just like... everything else? Got it.

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