Another warning about endurance training

It’s not clear what defines “vigorous” when it comes to endurance training, but another team of researchers is putting the brakes to working out more than 60 minutes at a time.

On its website, the CBC reports on a scientific review published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, which suggests that benefits of vigorous exercise diminish after an hour, and may even cause cardiovascular events. The piece, which quotes author Dr. James O’Keefe from Missouri,  suggests that some endurance athletes could be doing damage to their hearts:

“When people come to me as a cardiologist and say they want to run a marathon I say, ‘OK, do one and cross it off your bucket list and then let’s focus on an exercise pattern that’s more ideal to producing long-term health benefits and improving your longevity,'” O’Keefe said.

People who exercise regularly have lower rates of disability and a life expectancy seven years longer on average than couch potatoes, the researchers noted.

O’Keefe wants people to understand that the lion’s share of benefits come at a relatively modest level. No further benefits are obtained beyond 30 to 60 minutes a day of vigorous activity.

The researchers said elite-level athletes commonly develop abnormal electrocardiograms and their hearts adapt in ways that traditionally weren’t thought to be harmful. Now it seems the cardiac remodelling from excessive exercise can increase their risk of heart rhythm problems like atrial fibrillation.

After people reach their mid-40s, long and intense exercise can cause scarring and fibrosis in the heart, O’Keefe said.”

The ultra running world took notice this winter when Micah True died while running a 12-miler.  The author of Born to Run , known as the Caballo Blanco, died when the rhythm of his heart went of control. He would sometimes run a 100-miles a day,  and some people blame running for his death at age 58.

His is an extreme case, but combined with the perception of increasing number of deaths at marathons, people want to know more about what could be “excessive” when it comes to endurance training and the heart.

Should Joggers Pace for the Long-Term?

If you train and compete hard in the early part of your life, does that leave less gas in the tank in the latter part of your life?

That’s the interesting question raised by Gina Kolata in her NY Times Health blog this week:

“There are no definitive data on this question, but there are some suggestive findings, said Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon and exercise researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Wright’s study of senior Olympians — athletes age 50 and older who participated in the National Senior Olympic Games, a track and field event — found what she considers a surprisingly small rate of decline in performance until age 75: just a few percent a year in their times. After that, though, the athletes slowed down considerably.

She asked the athletes when they began participating in sports. In her survey, 95 percent said they were active in sports when they were teenagers and 85 percent said they were active as young adults.

But the survey did not ask what sports they played when they were younger — the same sports or different ones from those they were competing in now — or when they began to compete (it is likely that many of the women, growing up before Title IX, did not compete when they were young). Both factors bear on whether late-blooming athletes have an advantage as they get older.”

Her piece goes on to quote another researcher who suggests that VO2Max rates drop more rapidly in older people who were once athletic compared to those who were sedentary.

There was a maxim around my home when I was growing up (which applied to everything from alcohol, to food, to exercise): “everything in moderation”. My gut tells me it could serve us exercise addicts well.

There’s no arguing that accumulated injuries and  psychological fatigue are factors. But does the human body also come with a maximum number of lifetime kilometres? If Anton Krupicka circles the globe three times before he turns 50, can he expect to do it again after the age 50?

As a sports journalist, I’ve been inspired by the stories of so many athletes, from the Olympic backstroker who won gold in Barcelona in 1992, to the 85-year-old triathlete who won his age category gold at the World Masters Championships 1999. That the swimmer never swan again after the Olympics and the triathlete only began his training in his late 50’s surely have affected my view on this.

O’Neill finishes ahead of Ironman goal!

Pat O’Neill surpassed his own expectations at the Arizona Ironman.
In his first attempt at the ultra triathlon distance, O’Neill completed the course in 11 hours, 36 minutes, and 4 seconds.
Not bad for the Montreal Irishman-turned-New York banker!! Actually, it was a good two hours ahead of what he thought he would do.
O’Neill wrote an earlier post for Good4Sports about his journey to the start line, and has promised a post-race reflection once he recovers!

Kilimanjaro or bust!

This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73

Former Olympic swimmer Dan Thompson begins his trek in Tanzania Thursday, and I’m wondering why I didn’t think of that myself?
What’s best way to draw attention to a local cause? Would you climb Kilimanjaro to save the pool down the street?