Death by Exercise
That's the title of this article at Men's Health magazine. There's lots of stuff to consider in this. The main thing is that aerobic exercise may not be the health promoter that it has been thought to be in the recent past.
One thing I thought of as I read this is how (on the wattage list for example) people have a kind of one dimensional view of training. That is, if the approach or recommendation doesn't lead to better performance, than it's not worth it (or the coach is just un-scientific). But what about analyzing a training method (or regimen) in terms of it's over all health promoting factors? I am thinking of a recent discussion about Joe Friel's ideas on base work. He was somewhat criticized for advocating too low of intensity as well as weight work. But what if this approach produces almost identical fitness with better health? And by health I mean better heart health and immunity to flu and other diseases.
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Another reason
To not run!!! Yay, I always knew you runners were killing yourself ; ) Just kidding, it did say something about cycling.
In all honesty I don't find this interesting, mainly because it is on such a small scale. Who knows, those guys who died could have had past histories of heart disease in their genetics. Or they could have not been eating healthy, or they smoked (unlikely), or they could have had to much stress in their lives. Actually pinpointing their deaths to their workouts would be hard to do. Now do I think going out and running 10 miles a day, 7 days a week good for you? Or riding 3 hours a day, 7 days a week? No, I think thats overduing it in both cases. I think with a healthy life, and adequet exercise, you can live to be a 100. Granted you don't smoke, have family history problems, have no stress in your life, eat right, live right, so on and so forth. You get my jist...
Instant gratification wins!
Who cares about long term health!!? I just want to get faster and stronger RIGHT NOW....(could you pass me that needle)?
Seriously though, you raise some good thinking points.
The unfortunate reality is (I believe) that far too many people are completely wiping their butts with the idea of longterm health by using any and all available science/medicine to win a race TODAY.
Just kidding, it did say
it's pretty well known that serious professional road cyclists die young. The stress of things like the Tour de France every year (and maybe drug abuse) is just too much.
But yeah, for me articles like this just give people an excuse to sit on the couch smugly. I just hope my heart attack isn(t on a steep downhill stretch.
True, but
You know how much those guys train? It's their job, which means they do it way to much. The average rider is not going to put their bodies through as much stress as a professional road cyclist. I can see how they would have a lower life expectancy, hell, if I trained as hard as them I'd be dead in less than a week : )
We actually had an older gentlemen die on a road ride last year. It was very unfortunate. He had past heart problems and began riding to stay healthy. In all honesty, if I'm going to go out, I'd much rather it be on a bike than on some couch. And I think I'd want to go out hucking a major 60 foot gap or something... Might as well go out in a blaze of glory...
Yep Agreed
Oh I totally agree with you. I just found it sad when I first heard this.
I think there is more to it.
Does anyone else believe that as training time increases, so does the probability that the athlete is using potentially dangerous supplements also. I am not saying that all pros are dopers, but lets face it, there has got to be a larger percentage of dopers among a sample of athletes who train a lot compared to a room full of couch potatoes (I am talking about sports-performance-enhancing dope BTW).
Let us also not forget the supplements that many athletes use that have not yet been tested. Is it wrong to take a supplement that your coach says is safe, and anti-doping controls do not detect?
In the 80s people popped ephedrine tabs right and left...and no one thought much of it. Then kids started dropping dead at football practice and suddenly a lot of folks started to think it is not a great supplement (there are lots of other examples).
Lets see some stats for athletes that train feverishly and have never taken supplements or drugs. That data might be interesting...might also be impossible to collect...
I remember when I used to body build. I took all sorts of supplements, and thought they were healthy (I bought them from a health food store). Most (perhaps all) of those supplements would get you kicked out of UCI events today....
My take...Live your life well. Health is how you define it. The guy that uses a dead jogger as a reason to vegetate, looses. I live more in 5 minutes descending a rocky slope that that guy on the couch lives in a lifetime....that is health!
You doper
Your all about the substance abuse thing huh? I agree with you though, with all the different types of muscle enhancers, steroids, pills, drinks, ect... It can be overwhelming. I know that UCI has a pretty strict policy on this but you know that most series don't. Leaves the door wide open. I could shoot the roids into my ass on Saturday, and race on Sunday and no one would know, except for the fact that I would probably stomp everyone.
I'm not one to say I'm a saint, and yes there was a time where roids where very easy to come by. To easy... I fell into the trap for a short while, but all it did to me was make me want to kick everyones ass. I couldn't imagine what would happen if you raced on the stuff. But what's your take on say, whey protein? It's a supplement, don't know it's side effects, but I've heard it's relativly safe.
So these guys weren't pros, but it still sounds like they overtrained themselves. If they're that old, maybe they shouldn't be out doing 24 hour endurance races all the time, or double marathons. Not saying they were doing it, but you also have to realize that your body DOES have it's limits. And unfortunatly when you age, those limits seem to creep closer and closer. Not that I'd know though, I'm only 20 : ) Not saying that you older gentlemen can't go out and throw it down, most guys on these post can all ride amazing. But I would not recommend someone 50+ to train like me. You're just asking for trouble. Besides you all have all the past experience and training going for you. I've witnessed the old man strength wrastlin with some older folk, and age does come into play. So you don't need to train as hard ne way...
Fix, Burke
The article mentions runner Jim Fix who was a health and fitness advocate (not a pro) and Ed Burke who was too old to be a pro and Burke was the Guru to Chris Carmichel.
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