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Permalink Reply by Lori Enlow on September 27, 2012 at 12:31pm

Keep in mind they are extrapolating on studies of "excessive endurance athletes". What is considered "excessive"? There's no standard. The question of "how much is too much?" is a good one. I am in the medical field and am an endurance runner. My experience at looking at these types of studies is that we just don't know. There are too many variables. Does the exercise cause the cardiac disease or is there a genetic predisposition that manifests when the heart is stressed? Can we do too much and hurt ourselves? Well duh, of course! I always keep in check with what my body is telling me and tell my patients to do the same. I make sure I am resting, eating well, feeling well. If I am tired or my training is going poorly I check all systems and back off the training when I need to so I can recover. There are telltale signs of too much training...frequent minor illnesses, injuries, fatigue, insomnia, weight loss. This is also why I use a coach/trainer. Left to my own devices I am likely to overtrain and push too hard. Aches and pains are tell tale, but personally most of my aches and pains are not from overtraining, but from poor form and when I make the necessary corrections those aches and pains go away.

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Permalink Reply by Brad Gantt on September 28, 2012 at 3:41pm

Not to be flippant, but I'd file this under "Duh". Ultramarathons are extreme. Very few things, done to an extreme are good for us. But pushing one's limits, even doing some damage long the way, is worth it to many who consider what they gain from such experiences to be invaluable. The net of every article I have read on this subject is that exercise/movement is essential to good health and longevity but pushing the extremes on an ongoing basis is risky. 

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Permalink Reply by Sanja Burns on October 6, 2012 at 4:29am

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100831073510.htm

Hi Hudson,

There is always a counter argument. I cannot access the article you have posted but it would be interesting to know how they measure heart damage. Without actual autopsy (and even then the damage could be due any number of reasons) they are likely to measure the troponin levels (a blood marker for heart damage) and would perhaps perform ultra sounds, MRI scans. As Lori pointed out, there would be many factors contributing to one's heart response to exercise. Do you know if they actually performed any type of genetic analysis (either gene testing or family history evaluation) to determine if these individuals had a higher pre-disposition towards developing heart issues? For example, I was unwell running my last marathon in July (turns out nothing to do with my heart). I had my troponin levels measured and found it was only slightly elevated and returned to normal fairly quickly. I was also (mis) diagnosed with Left Ventricular Non Compaction and because I was not convinced with the diagnosis (which has subsequently been dismissed) and I did not want to play golf for the rest of my life, I did a lot of research on running and heart. In my opinion the studies have not been conclusive about the long term damage to the heart from endurance running. So do what makes you feel good! 

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