7 ms·

"Bodies are like machines, if you use them a lot they will wear out because of over-use." One crucial difference between humans and machines is that humans reg

"Bodies are like machines, if you use them a lot they will wear out because of over-use." One crucial difference between humans and machines is that humans regenerate and can grow stronger through careful exertion.

geoka9 11y ago
Not so with the joints. That's why you see so many great athletes end their careers prematurely due to knee and back injuries.
- matwood 11y ago
  I think we need to be careful comparing regular people with 'great athletes'. The stresses a top athlete puts on their body are extreme because they are top athletes. With that said, many (most?) top athletes go their entire careers without a joint problem at all.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- npsimons 11y ago
  Which is exactly why ChrisLTD said "careful exertion". Also, extrapolating a tiny percentage (permanently injured professional athletes) of a tiny percentage (professional athletes) to the general populace is facetious. Your average person is nowhere near "too much physical exertion", albeit they may have bad form, but that can be cleared up by competent coaching (even self-coaching).
  - geoka9 11y ago
    What I'm trying to say is that while it's possible to cure almost any muscle-related injury with exercise and regimen (and the athletes do this all the time), it's not possible to do with a busted joint (and the athletes have to retire prematurely when they realize that having another surgery is not an option).
- gozur88 11y ago
  Sure, but you're talking about people who exercise five or six hours a day. People with jobs and families couldn't do that if they wanted to.
  - brianwawok 11y ago
    I know a few ironmen that would be great to differ :)
    - PhasmaFelis 11y ago
      If you're literally working out six hours a day every day, then almost certainly that is your job.
    - gozur88 11y ago
      People with children?
      - djhn 11y ago
        Well at least cycling and treadmill running are very well suited to multitasking. With enough motivation it is possible to squeeze in 4+ hours per day of cycling that you would be spending stationary while on your job or at home doing emails, at least some calls, reading, research, TV-shows/documentaries/online courses/hacker news. Throw in the "normal" 2 hours of exercise before or after work and voilá! It does take one 4-5 years to build up to that even from non-sedentary active lifestyles, otherwise maintaining energy for everything else will be impossible. And my (completely speculatory) hypothesis is that amateur sports (or some pro-sports) or serious goal-oriented strength/physique training will offer benefits down the line, as long as you quit "heavy" exercise after a reasonable amount of time and maintain a moderate amount of exercise for the rest of your life. After all, Tour de France riders of the past century outlive us by many years, despite most allegedly having been on quite a comprehensive cocktail of anabolic steroids, erythropoietin stimulating drugs, amphetamines, etc..
nickff 11y ago
Only some 'components' regenerate, so you've got to be careful. Ligaments and spinal discs are non-'repairable' components.
- matwood 11y ago
  While not body repairable, I have had my ACL replaced so it is fixable. For those non-repairable components what you want to do is build up the muscle around them. People are so scared about hurting their backs that they avoid doing any exercises to make the muscles that stabilize the lower back stronger. I routinely have people tell me at the gym they do not dead lift because they do not want to hurt their backs. The problem is a) learning to DL will teach you how to lift properly and b) it will strengthen the muscles in your back. For the record I tore my ACL doing inverts on the wakeboard. Not exactly typical exercising.
  - iofj 11y ago
    Keep in mind that those repair components are eukaryot cells, and they have two built in rules that are important here :\ 1) any individual cell, once X energy passes through them, they senescence 2) from the ovum you grew out of until the last cell alive when you die, only 128 cell divisions happen in that line. That means there is a finite supply of these repair components, these cells, and so there is a limit to how much energy can go through your body before you die. Therefore, you probably want to make sure "peak" effort in any reasonable time interval (e.g. a month, maybe a week) is pretty high, to encourage the machinery to remain well-maintained, but average effort is as low as possible. You should exercise to have a huge amount of effort for maybe 10-15 minutes per month, sprinting for instance, getting your heartrate up to 130+, and keeping it up for a short while, maybe 20-30 minutes, no more. Other than that, you should probably avoid exercise and eat healthy. There are other reasons gym is not a particularly good kind of exercise. It's just not very realistic. Running or biking in the real world, aside from being more fun than in a gym, is also a lot better for you. And probably, having a weekly game of basketball is far better than that.
- shawnb576 11y ago
  Not true. I've had ligament damage that recovered. I've got two herniated discs that no longer give me much trouble (and I'm very active). No surgery, but careful management and activity choice.

geoka9 11y ago

Not so with the joints. That's why you see so many great athletes end their careers prematurely due to knee and back injuries.

matwood 11y ago
I think we need to be careful comparing regular people with 'great athletes'. The stresses a top athlete puts on their body are extreme because they are top athletes. With that said, many (most?) top athletes go their entire careers without a joint problem at all.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
npsimons 11y ago
Which is exactly why ChrisLTD said "careful exertion". Also, extrapolating a tiny percentage (permanently injured professional athletes) of a tiny percentage (professional athletes) to the general populace is facetious. Your average person is nowhere near "too much physical exertion", albeit they may have bad form, but that can be cleared up by competent coaching (even self-coaching).
- geoka9 11y ago
  What I'm trying to say is that while it's possible to cure almost any muscle-related injury with exercise and regimen (and the athletes do this all the time), it's not possible to do with a busted joint (and the athletes have to retire prematurely when they realize that having another surgery is not an option).
gozur88 11y ago
Sure, but you're talking about people who exercise five or six hours a day. People with jobs and families couldn't do that if they wanted to.
- brianwawok 11y ago
  I know a few ironmen that would be great to differ :)
  - PhasmaFelis 11y ago
    If you're literally working out six hours a day every day, then almost certainly that is your job.
  - gozur88 11y ago
    People with children?
    - djhn 11y ago
      Well at least cycling and treadmill running are very well suited to multitasking. With enough motivation it is possible to squeeze in 4+ hours per day of cycling that you would be spending stationary while on your job or at home doing emails, at least some calls, reading, research, TV-shows/documentaries/online courses/hacker news. Throw in the "normal" 2 hours of exercise before or after work and voilá! It does take one 4-5 years to build up to that even from non-sedentary active lifestyles, otherwise maintaining energy for everything else will be impossible. And my (completely speculatory) hypothesis is that amateur sports (or some pro-sports) or serious goal-oriented strength/physique training will offer benefits down the line, as long as you quit "heavy" exercise after a reasonable amount of time and maintain a moderate amount of exercise for the rest of your life. After all, Tour de France riders of the past century outlive us by many years, despite most allegedly having been on quite a comprehensive cocktail of anabolic steroids, erythropoietin stimulating drugs, amphetamines, etc..

nickff 11y ago

Only some 'components' regenerate, so you've got to be careful. Ligaments and spinal discs are non-'repairable' components.

matwood 11y ago
While not body repairable, I have had my ACL replaced so it is fixable. For those non-repairable components what you want to do is build up the muscle around them. People are so scared about hurting their backs that they avoid doing any exercises to make the muscles that stabilize the lower back stronger. I routinely have people tell me at the gym they do not dead lift because they do not want to hurt their backs. The problem is a) learning to DL will teach you how to lift properly and b) it will strengthen the muscles in your back. For the record I tore my ACL doing inverts on the wakeboard. Not exactly typical exercising.
- iofj 11y ago
  Keep in mind that those repair components are eukaryot cells, and they have two built in rules that are important here :\ 1) any individual cell, once X energy passes through them, they senescence 2) from the ovum you grew out of until the last cell alive when you die, only 128 cell divisions happen in that line. That means there is a finite supply of these repair components, these cells, and so there is a limit to how much energy can go through your body before you die. Therefore, you probably want to make sure "peak" effort in any reasonable time interval (e.g. a month, maybe a week) is pretty high, to encourage the machinery to remain well-maintained, but average effort is as low as possible. You should exercise to have a huge amount of effort for maybe 10-15 minutes per month, sprinting for instance, getting your heartrate up to 130+, and keeping it up for a short while, maybe 20-30 minutes, no more. Other than that, you should probably avoid exercise and eat healthy. There are other reasons gym is not a particularly good kind of exercise. It's just not very realistic. Running or biking in the real world, aside from being more fun than in a gym, is also a lot better for you. And probably, having a weekly game of basketball is far better than that.
shawnb576 11y ago
Not true. I've had ligament damage that recovered. I've got two herniated discs that no longer give me much trouble (and I'm very active). No surgery, but careful management and activity choice.