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Too Much Exercise May Not Be Better Than a Sedentary Lifestyle
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.
Everything ever about diet and exercise.
I guess we need to rehash this?
Lift weights
I feel like I just stumbled into a screening of The Sleeper.
"Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"
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.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
You mean there is nothing I can do to live forever?!
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
"Although previous research has found that physically active people have at least a 30% lower risk of death compared with inactive people"
Wait... don't we all have 100% risk of death?
Too Much Exercise May Not Be Better Than a Sedentary Lifestyle
Too Much
Well, that seems true by definition.
To quote Stephen Fry:
"Of course 'too much' bad for you. 'Too much' of anything is bad for you, you blithering twat. That's what 'too much' means. 'Too much' water would be bad for you. Obviously 'too much' is precisely that quantity which is excessive. That's what it means. Jesus!"
Basically do what you like. Don't sweat the little things.
Work on quality rather than quantity and quit reading dumb studies that run around on the Internet.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The error range for the strenuous jogging group is absolutely huge and only represents 2 deaths out 36 (or 40, depending on which plot you're looking at). Yeah, the differences between strenuous jogging and sitting on your ass might be technically statistically significant, but are the numbers in these groups sufficient to tell if there's a difference, ie is the study sufficiently powered?
"Is it true that you smoke eight to ten cigars a day?"
"That's true."
"Is it true that you drink five martinis a day?"
"That's true."
"Is it true that you still surround yourself with beautiful young women?"
"That's true."
"What does your doctor say about all of this?"
"My doctor is dead."
- An interview with George Burns
Happy people make bad consumers.
well some things shouldn't be done in moderation...
smoking, eating feces, etc
Exactly. My father was a big jogger in the 1970's and 1980's. He ran 5 to 10 miles almost every day.
Around age 68 he had to get a knee replaced. At 73 he had the other knee replaced. The doctors told him that pretty much anyone who jogged that much has to get new knees. Now he still has trouble walking long distances, which sucks for him since he lives in the mountains and loves to hike.
My father has advised me against jogging more than a couple miles twice a week.
Running is a complex biomechanical activity. Most people I see running are not running with biomechanically-correct form. This probably stems from lack of knowledge of how to run correctly, lack of core strength to run correctly, shoes that do not fit their physiology and personal running form, etc., etc.
Since most people run with poor form, it's not a surprise that most people that jog require knee replacements.
Running, when done correctly, produces minimal stress on knee joints, even at 10+ mph.
2) Measure things until one of the outcomes reaches "statistical significance".
Look at the small number of participants shown in the original data here, and the conclusion that is being echoed all over the Internet seems dramatically overstated. The original authors acknowledged this and called for further research, as did the editorial accompanying publication, but of course that hardly gets mentioned in all the Internet echo chamber "don't do too much exercise, you might just as well slob around on the sofa" rhetoric.
I can't find a publicly available primary source to cite, but it looks like only a little over a hundred "strenuous" joggers were included in the study, and of those only two actually died. The remaining ones could go jog their normal route and still not travel the length of the error bars here.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I've always thought that running and jogging was too jarring to joints and such. I stay in great shape by *walking* ~5-6 miles a day, but I wouldn't run. Walking (fast) provides the same benefit as running, but without the joint wear and tear, and of course, it takes about twice as long.
I don't respond to AC's.
The Forbes article linked in the summary is telling:
But we haven't been doing it in shoes. Or with feet modified by wearing shoes. Or on pavement, or mostly in cold climates.
I am not sure which of these changes is more important. My best guess is the shoes. It is easy to tell when humans started wearing shoes, the feet are distinctly different. Different feet + padding = different running which may = damaged joints.
T
Laws are horrible moral guides, moral guides make even worse laws.
So... "everything in moderation"? Just like... everything else? Got it.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
I have yet to talk to a doctor that didn't believe that excessive running damages knees.
That's why it's called "excessive."
Running is a complex biomechanical activity. Most people I see running are not running with biomechanically-correct form. This probably stems from lack of knowledge of how to run correctly, lack of core strength to run correctly, shoes that do not fit their physiology and personal running form, etc., etc.
Since most people run with poor form, it's not a surprise that most people that jog require knee replacements.
Running, when done correctly, produces minimal stress on knee joints, even at 10+ mph.
Modern padded running shoes promote bad form, causing knee and other injuries, and prevent your feet from strengthening, causing planar fascitis and a few other maladies. Your foot is actually well constructed to run, but it can't do it's job wrapped in a ton of leather and foam.
I've had some success with minimalist running shoes (abrasion protection only, no padding, sole is about 1/8" thick)- it's important to enable your feet to strengthen. After a few weeks of walking around in thin shoes, I started running again and it felt like I had new feet- it was awesome.
Wearing thin shoes forces you to land on your forefoot, allowing your very complicated foot to absorb shock like it's supposed to. Wearing thick-soled shoes allows you to land on your heel, and that force is transmitted straight up to your knee. The padding prevents immediate pain but the shock goes through nonetheless.
There's a great book on running, called "Born to Run", that discusses this and many other aspects of running. I highly recommend the book.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
10 years ago in college I was talking with a teacher with a PHD related to wellness and we got on this exact topic. They told me too much exercise is well known to increase arterial plaque and was a major health issue with long distance runners. Great hearts, bad plaque.
It is certainly possible that performing very high levels of physical activity is worse for the human body in some respects than performing lower levels. However, this study doesn't support that theory to any statistically useful degree.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.