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Quoting my genetics professor: "Exercise affects DNA repair systems. So moderate exercise speeds metabolism, which increases free radical production, which dam

Quoting my genetics professor: "Exercise affects DNA repair systems. So moderate exercise speeds metabolism, which increases free radical production, which damages DNA, which activates DNA repair systems which catch the damage caused by the exercise and perhaps some additional damage as well - that's good and probably increases lifespan. Exercising too much creates more damage than the DNA repair systems can catch - which is bad, and explains why very fit people are often unhealthy. Exercising twice a week seems to be the optimum for most people."

lukas099 11y ago
"Very fit people are often unhealthy" Is this even true? It doesn't seem true.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  Eating clen and trenning hard does seem to negatively affect health of a person. And there is hardly any top athlete that has not taken such stimulants.
- pazimzadeh 11y ago
  Everything is a tradeoff. About 10 to the 16 cell divisions occur in a typical lifespan so somewhere in cells that are part of you each of your genes has mutated 10 to the 10 times. Most mutations are neutral, some are beneficial and others can cause cancer. Any activity that makes you sweat is likely causing damage to your cells which now have to replace lost material by dividing at a higher rate, increasing your chances of cancer and other diseases. Source for the numbers: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/contagious-cancer/?single=1 http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/contagious-cancer/?single...
  - abandonliberty 11y ago
    Rather than "mutations cause cancer", a better model is that mutations break genes that prevent cancer or ensure multi-cellular collaboration. All cells have many defenses to prevent cancer, it's the systematic, uncaught erosion of these that leads to malignancy.
- ekianjo 11y ago
  Top level sportsmen are not known to live very long, so I'd rather say this is probably true.
  - collyw 11y ago
    Can you give some examples? That sounds like some old wives tale to me.
    - abandonliberty 11y ago
      Here is a fairly in-depth analysis of the excessive running issue that made rounds through the press last year. Must be read critically, particularly the argument about confounding factors, but it does a good job of introducing the various findings, actual data, and arguments from both sides of the issue. In any case, when it comes to running, the consensus is that there are diminishing, eventually negative, returns. http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/will-running-too-much-kill-you http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/will-running-too-m...
  - Someone 11y ago
    I don't see how that follows from "Very fit people are often unhealthy" Ignoring the issue that (un)healthy is very hard to define, top level sportsmen could be fit and healthy up to moderate age, then drop dead. Also, we have http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21618162 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21618162 on Tour de France competitors: "Our major finding is that repeated very intense exercise prolongs life span in well trained practitioners. Our findings underpin the importance of exercising without the fear that becoming exhausted might be bad for one's health." and linked from there, a review paper (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095): "It appears that elite endurance (aerobic) athletes and mixed-sports (aerobic and anaerobic) athletes survive longer than the general population, as indicated by lower mortality and higher longevity. Lower cardiovascular disease mortality is likely the primary reason for their better survival rates. On the other hand, there are inconsistent results among studies of power (anaerobic) athletes" There may be a lesson there for those advocating all kinds of muscle building exercises, but of course, there might be selection at work, too. Few people who are truly bad at endurance work will choose to compete in endurance sports for years, and it could be that those good at endurance sports have higher life expectancy, even if they don't do the training.
- abandonliberty 11y ago
  Literature reviews of over 54 studies say it's not true. Elite athletes live longer than average. >Considerable support was found for superior longevity outcomes for elite athletes, particularly those in endurance and mixed sports http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26301178 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26301178 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 There may be confounding factors e.g. genetic factors, lifestyle, wealth, and status.

lukas099 11y ago

"Very fit people are often unhealthy" Is this even true? It doesn't seem true.

venomsnake 11y ago
Eating clen and trenning hard does seem to negatively affect health of a person. And there is hardly any top athlete that has not taken such stimulants.
pazimzadeh 11y ago
Everything is a tradeoff. About 10 to the 16 cell divisions occur in a typical lifespan so somewhere in cells that are part of you each of your genes has mutated 10 to the 10 times. Most mutations are neutral, some are beneficial and others can cause cancer. Any activity that makes you sweat is likely causing damage to your cells which now have to replace lost material by dividing at a higher rate, increasing your chances of cancer and other diseases. Source for the numbers: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/contagious-cancer/?single=1 http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/contagious-cancer/?single...
- abandonliberty 11y ago
  Rather than "mutations cause cancer", a better model is that mutations break genes that prevent cancer or ensure multi-cellular collaboration. All cells have many defenses to prevent cancer, it's the systematic, uncaught erosion of these that leads to malignancy.
ekianjo 11y ago
Top level sportsmen are not known to live very long, so I'd rather say this is probably true.
- collyw 11y ago
  Can you give some examples? That sounds like some old wives tale to me.
  - abandonliberty 11y ago
    Here is a fairly in-depth analysis of the excessive running issue that made rounds through the press last year. Must be read critically, particularly the argument about confounding factors, but it does a good job of introducing the various findings, actual data, and arguments from both sides of the issue. In any case, when it comes to running, the consensus is that there are diminishing, eventually negative, returns. http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/will-running-too-much-kill-you http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/will-running-too-m...
- Someone 11y ago
  I don't see how that follows from "Very fit people are often unhealthy" Ignoring the issue that (un)healthy is very hard to define, top level sportsmen could be fit and healthy up to moderate age, then drop dead. Also, we have http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21618162 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21618162 on Tour de France competitors: "Our major finding is that repeated very intense exercise prolongs life span in well trained practitioners. Our findings underpin the importance of exercising without the fear that becoming exhausted might be bad for one's health." and linked from there, a review paper (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095): "It appears that elite endurance (aerobic) athletes and mixed-sports (aerobic and anaerobic) athletes survive longer than the general population, as indicated by lower mortality and higher longevity. Lower cardiovascular disease mortality is likely the primary reason for their better survival rates. On the other hand, there are inconsistent results among studies of power (anaerobic) athletes" There may be a lesson there for those advocating all kinds of muscle building exercises, but of course, there might be selection at work, too. Few people who are truly bad at endurance work will choose to compete in endurance sports for years, and it could be that those good at endurance sports have higher life expectancy, even if they don't do the training.
abandonliberty 11y ago
Literature reviews of over 54 studies say it's not true. Elite athletes live longer than average. >Considerable support was found for superior longevity outcomes for elite athletes, particularly those in endurance and mixed sports http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26301178 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26301178 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574095 There may be confounding factors e.g. genetic factors, lifestyle, wealth, and status.