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Not to rain on everyone’s parade, but there is considerable scientific evidence that marathons and ultramarathons are detrimental to one’s long term health. Mod

Not to rain on everyone’s parade, but there is considerable scientific evidence that marathons and ultramarathons are detrimental to one’s long term health. Modest (30 minute at a moderate pace) cardiovascular exercise 3-4 times a week, resistance training, and yoga/stretching is a better strategy for good health in one’s 70s and 80s.

hinkley 3y ago
My father had a stroke, caused by an afib, caused by engaging in (we think) 24 hour cycling challenges. I was content with my personal best of 110 miles in a day, I think he pushed close to 200. I don't know if we know how to detect when such damage is initially occurring, but that would be an excellent field of research.
mbesto 3y ago
ultra runner here...I've never heard this before. can you provide sources for "considerable evidence"?
- BenFranklin100 3y ago
  I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed. I only suggest you do your own research on extreme sports - and yes, ruining 26 miles nonstop counts as extreme - and come to your own conclusions. If you’re marathoner, I also invite you to investigate the importance of muscle mass in overall health, particularly as one ages. Muscle has a host oh health benefits, even though an extra 20 lbs of upper body muscle mass will kill your long distance running times.
  - bikamonki 3y ago
    Useless. Evidence cannot change an addict's mind.
  - RankingMember 3y ago
    > I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed You could at least make a good faith attempt and meet people at least halfway though, right? FWIW I've read studies saying the same thing- my critique is just with your approach here. You wouldn't believe someone who just waltzed in with a statement and refused to post any references, would you?
  - jawilson2 3y ago
    > I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed This is, in fact, exactly how you convince people.
  - mbesto 3y ago
    > 20 lbs of upper body muscle mass will kill your long distance running times. So will 20 lbs of lower muscle mass which I can gain through...you guessed it, running.
- paulcole 3y ago
  Everybody looks for a reason to not run. As a fellow ultra runner, I just roll my eyes and keep on running.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 3y ago
    I think too many people want to run marathons. At what point did running really far become the thing to aspire too when getting fit? What about strength? Speed? Flexibility? Agility? Regardless of the evidence, most people are better served doing a good mix of activities and being generalists. The only reason to run more than 10km is if you like running. Otherwise 5-10km at a decent pace is just a good cheap way to get effective cardio. You should probably stop there and lift something heavy.
    - RankingMember 3y ago
      I think well-roundedness gets overlooked because our culture is one that lionizes those who push themselves to near-death in a certain specialization, so you get a segment of people pushing themselves harder than is holistically healthy. For example, a recent study found that two thirds of pro cyclists have markedly low bone density: https://www.velonews.com/news/dutch-study-two-thirds-of-pro-riders-have-poor-bone-health/#:~:text=A%20study%20by%20a%20Dutch,and%20conditions%20such%20as%20osteoporosis https://www.velonews.com/news/dutch-study-two-thirds-of-pro-....
    - InCityDreams 3y ago
      Zone 2 training. The long version.
      - mbesto 3y ago
        This. Zone 2 is where its at.
- GuardianCaveman 3y ago
  Oh he hit you with the, "do your own research." I also like that he posts that on this article about an 81 year old running 130kms. How many of his peers who did 30 minutes can barely walk but he's out there killing it.
asdfman123 3y ago
The vast majority of people who read this and get inspired to run will eventually do the kind of volume that extends their life. They won’t go all the way, they’ll go part of the way.
swalling 3y ago
This is pretty much bunk. https://trainright.com/is-ultrarunning-bad-for-long-term-health/ https://trainright.com/is-ultrarunning-bad-for-long-term-hea... You can have serious acute injuries from running via physical accidents or mismanagement of hydration. You can also die driving to the market to buy toilet paper, but the risks in both cases are extremely manageable. Life threatening or debilitating chronic health problems from running high volume are rare, and far outweighed by the overall health benefits of regular exercise. Most of the ideas that persist out there, like running being bad for your joints, are complete myths. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/will-continuing-to-run-make-my-knees-wear-out-faster https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/will-continuing-to... The only thing to get screened for if you want to run marathons or more is a family history of heart defects, to avoid the very small possibility of sudden cardiac death, which is a risk with basically all intense exercise, including things like shoveling snow or other manual labor. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070620/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070620/

hinkley 3y ago

My father had a stroke, caused by an afib, caused by engaging in (we think) 24 hour cycling challenges. I was content with my personal best of 110 miles in a day, I think he pushed close to 200. I don't know if we know how to detect when such damage is initially occurring, but that would be an excellent field of research.

mbesto 3y ago

ultra runner here...I've never heard this before. can you provide sources for "considerable evidence"?

BenFranklin100 3y ago
I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed. I only suggest you do your own research on extreme sports - and yes, ruining 26 miles nonstop counts as extreme - and come to your own conclusions. If you’re marathoner, I also invite you to investigate the importance of muscle mass in overall health, particularly as one ages. Muscle has a host oh health benefits, even though an extra 20 lbs of upper body muscle mass will kill your long distance running times.
- bikamonki 3y ago
  Useless. Evidence cannot change an addict's mind.
- RankingMember 3y ago
  > I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed You could at least make a good faith attempt and meet people at least halfway though, right? FWIW I've read studies saying the same thing- my critique is just with your approach here. You wouldn't believe someone who just waltzed in with a statement and refused to post any references, would you?
- jawilson2 3y ago
  > I’m not going to convince anyone by pulling a couple references from PubMed This is, in fact, exactly how you convince people.
- mbesto 3y ago
  > 20 lbs of upper body muscle mass will kill your long distance running times. So will 20 lbs of lower muscle mass which I can gain through...you guessed it, running.
paulcole 3y ago
Everybody looks for a reason to not run. As a fellow ultra runner, I just roll my eyes and keep on running.
- 2muchcoffeeman 3y ago
  I think too many people want to run marathons. At what point did running really far become the thing to aspire too when getting fit? What about strength? Speed? Flexibility? Agility? Regardless of the evidence, most people are better served doing a good mix of activities and being generalists. The only reason to run more than 10km is if you like running. Otherwise 5-10km at a decent pace is just a good cheap way to get effective cardio. You should probably stop there and lift something heavy.
  - RankingMember 3y ago
    I think well-roundedness gets overlooked because our culture is one that lionizes those who push themselves to near-death in a certain specialization, so you get a segment of people pushing themselves harder than is holistically healthy. For example, a recent study found that two thirds of pro cyclists have markedly low bone density: https://www.velonews.com/news/dutch-study-two-thirds-of-pro-riders-have-poor-bone-health/#:~:text=A%20study%20by%20a%20Dutch,and%20conditions%20such%20as%20osteoporosis https://www.velonews.com/news/dutch-study-two-thirds-of-pro-....
  - InCityDreams 3y ago
    Zone 2 training. The long version.
    - mbesto 3y ago
      This. Zone 2 is where its at.
GuardianCaveman 3y ago
Oh he hit you with the, "do your own research." I also like that he posts that on this article about an 81 year old running 130kms. How many of his peers who did 30 minutes can barely walk but he's out there killing it.

asdfman123 3y ago

The vast majority of people who read this and get inspired to run will eventually do the kind of volume that extends their life. They won’t go all the way, they’ll go part of the way.

swalling 3y ago

This is pretty much bunk. https://trainright.com/is-ultrarunning-bad-for-long-term-health/ https://trainright.com/is-ultrarunning-bad-for-long-term-hea... You can have serious acute injuries from running via physical accidents or mismanagement of hydration. You can also die driving to the market to buy toilet paper, but the risks in both cases are extremely manageable. Life threatening or debilitating chronic health problems from running high volume are rare, and far outweighed by the overall health benefits of regular exercise. Most of the ideas that persist out there, like running being bad for your joints, are complete myths. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/will-continuing-to-run-make-my-knees-wear-out-faster https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/will-continuing-to... The only thing to get screened for if you want to run marathons or more is a family history of heart defects, to avoid the very small possibility of sudden cardiac death, which is a risk with basically all intense exercise, including things like shoveling snow or other manual labor. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070620/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070620/