The Myth About Exercise

[CardiacCoug]

I knew the cult of distance runners would be quick to ignore science once again.

[ERCougar]

I knew the cult of distance runners would be quick to ignore science once again.

Whoa, hold on there. I can brush off DH's puny jabs, but I'm not taking that one lying down.

You're a smart guy, so obviously, you didn't read the article on the ridiculous data dredge you posted, but you really should read this one, by the same author last year. He comments on the same Copenhagen data (before the authors milked the same data for another publication), as well as a few other studies on the topic. Sadly for those who would like to stay seated in front of the TV, the data still clearly support running, with the health benefits peaking nowhere near 2.5 hours a week and 12:00 miles (lol...how are you not laughing at this "finding" on its face?).

Take a look around at the expo of the next marathon your wife enters and tell me--do these people look better or worse than your clinic?

[CardiacCoug]

Sure ER I agree 100% with that Runner's World article you linked. Pretty sad day when a Runner's World article makes a helluva lot more sense than what's in JACC.

I don't think doing marathons or triathlons is protective against coronary artery disease any more than moderate exercise -- in the 5 years since this thread was started I've continued to see a ton of coronary calcium and occasional cardiovascular events in extreme exercisers but probably I mainly notice these because I'm interested in the controversial/counterintuitive (and of course totally unproven) theory that extreme exercise is bad for the heart.

I totally agree that 99% of the population needs more exercise and not less. Making fun of my wife and her crazy running friends is too much fun though. No question it is a little bit of a cult and im pretty sure that if there was a really good scientific article (unlike this one) that showed running was bad for you they still wouldn't believe it.

[Donuthole]

Whoa, hold on there. I can brush off DH's puny jabs, but I'm not taking that one lying down.

You're a smart guy, so obviously, you didn't read the article on the ridiculous data dredge you posted, but you really should read this one, by the same author last year. He comments on the same Copenhagen data (before the authors milked the same data for another publication), as well as a few other studies on the topic. Sadly for those who would like to stay seated in front of the TV, the data still clearly support running, with the health benefits peaking nowhere near 2.5 hours a week and 12:00 miles (lol...how are you not laughing at this "finding" on its face?).

Take a look around at the expo of the next marathon your wife enters and tell me--do these people look better or worse than your clinic?

HLS

[Jeff Lebowski]

HLS

Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?

[Moliere]

Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?

Hot Lunch Sucks!

[ERCougar]

Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?

Thank you! I was going to ask, but I didn't want him to label me one of those engineer types who also can't tell the difference between ha and lol. And who don't know why that's a bad thing.

[bluegoose]

As a runner, I may be a bit biased in my analysis of the articles that I read. But anecdotally, in my personal experience, I cannot recall a single total joint replacement patient that is a former long distance runner. This comes from a sample size of several hundred post-op knee and hip patients. On the other hand, the majority of my post-op hip and knee replacement patients either are or were at one time classified as obese or morbidly obese.


I'll leave the cardiovascular risks and benefits of running to the MDs and DOs to dissect and discuss. But from an orthopedic standpoint, the conventional thought that long distance running causes pain and disability in later years appears to be unfounded as evidenced by my personal observations and a quick sampling of the available research in the area.

Take all of this for what its worth.

Wow, has it really been 5 years since we initially had this discussion?

As a 5 year update, I have actually now seen a knee replacement patient that is a former marathon runner. Early 50s, male, moderately overweight. However, his knee injury which led to his surgery was a badly torn meniscus in his younger years suffered as a result of playing soccer. He went on to later take up running, which certainly didn't help the degenerative meniscus, but he was able to get about 15 years of running before he needed it fixed.

[wally]

Thank you! I was going to ask, but I didn't want him to label me one of those engineer types who also can't tell the difference between ha and lol. And who don't know why that's a bad thing.

DH really put me in my place on that one.

[Green Monstah]

I'm a big dude, but I really enjoy jogging. I lost a lot of weight running five times per week in 2013, but I had to stop because it was killing my knees. Now, I only run 2x per week--I run a 5k on the weekends, and I run for 20 mintues on the treadmill as part of my indoor tri training. Otherwise I do a pretty standard resistance training regimen in conjunction with some cardio (bike, swim, or stair climber) 4x per week. The resistance training is helping with my knee pain, as is the swimming and cyling. Interestingly, my 5k time has improved a lot since I started this particular regimen in October. The pounds aren't falling off like they did in '13, but I feel better, and my clothes are getting loose.

In the end, I find a lot of the debate about the pros/cons of different exercise methods to be silly and counterproductive. fat/lazy folks (like my current/former self) use it as motivation to sit on the couch and hammer Ben and Jerry's while watching Biggest Loser re-runs.

[smokymountainrain]

Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?

Hint: it has something to do with fishing.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Hint: it has something to do with fishing.

Aha! Got it.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

This thread is tl;dr one word answer needed should I exercise or not? Go.

[imanihonjin]

This thread is tl;dr one word answer needed should I exercise or not? Go.

Maybe.

[wally]

Maybe.

Pretty good synopsis.