seanpatrick76

I just wanted to get some thoughts on this CBC report about the potential negative side effects of long distance cycling / endurance sports. It's a little worry-some from my perspective, thoughts?

Ultra-endurance sport training can hurt your heart health - Health - CBC News

achoo

Old news from at least two years ago. Only really applies to the extreme - like TdF riders - if even that.

Google it.

Nice to see it's old enough that it's getting recycled as new. Someone must have needed to meet a deadline and/or a page/word count.

NormanF

I have a heart condition and I don't feel winded when I ride my bike.

That happens only with extremely strenuous physical activity. Seriously, you have a better chance of dying during sex than on a long bike ride!

rms13

I haven't read the article but that's not new news. I have been on the fringe of paleo lifestyle for years and they all preach how bad endurance sports are and how strength training and short, hard cardio i.e. sprinting is better for you. I certainly believe that regular marathons and iron mans put a ton of stress on your body and aren't a good plan for longevity but I think the ammount most of us ride is within a healthy range. But still I prefer 15-30 mile rides at the fastest pace I can ride over riding for 3 + hours at a time.

cccorlew

Don't most TdF riders live to ripe old ages? I call BS. Plus, being on a bike is fun, and not being on one makes it feel like you live longer because you are bored.

rms13

I did just watch slaying the badger and those guys looked pretty good.

rms13

That article has very little info. But they are talking about middle aged men that are doing ultra endurance sports and taking them up in their middle aged years. Most TDF riders are retired by then and have been riding that much their entire life.

LesterOfPuppets

TdF bros are doing 90 hours in a month instead of 90 hours in 4 or 5 days.

Totally different from endurance riding.

I'm against endurance riding, even TdF kinda miles for myself. 2 hours is a good ride length. 1.5 hours is even better.

surgeonstone

There are lots of reasons for long distance cycling. Health is not one of them. A hard 1-2 ride will give you all if not more of the health benefits when compared to the extreme riding.
We concretely think if some is good, more is better. Not very good thought process for most activities.

Garfield Cat

Even strenuous climbs at 12% grades will do you in. That will get your heart pounding and your body temps soaring. Do that for a mile and stop to just feel and hear your heart still pounding for a minute or so.

thump55

So long endurance efforts are bad for your heart?

Sorry, Honey...I guess you don't get the "deluxe package" any more

elcruxio

depends on the intensity. If you are doing a lot of hours and trying to actually improve, hard riding all the time one/two hours at a time is not optimal in any way. You miss the shocking/changing effects you get from extreme HIIT efforts. You also don't get the heart pampering low steady intesity and of course you lose massive amounts of volume since the body can't recover from the hard rides well enough to ride enough hours.

What you actually want is to minimize the mid hard level almost completely and get hours and hours of low/mid steady effort and almost max/max HIIT efforts thrown in the mix, in terms of maximal training gains and heart health.

hours and hours of exercise don't harm the heart if the intensity is kept in check. HIIT has been shown to be extremely beneficial for heart health However very high efforts for long durations can cause non permanent heart damage which will heal with time and recovry, but can turn to permanent damage if proper recovery is neglected and high intensity is maintained in training and/or constant training.

I don't for example think running marathons is bad. Doing loads of marathons with bad training in between is. Trying to go as fast as you can for 1-2 hours at a time always is the absolute worst. Check out the tour for example. The riders chill for the first hours and then crank it up at some point. long steady until they start out with race pace.

Bacciagalupe

There's nothing new here.

Many athletes (including amateurs) have enlarged hearts, but it is not clear that this results in any actual cardiac issues. Another study indicated that high amounts of endurance exercise can cause some short-term markers of heart damage, but it typically clears up very quickly.

Epidemiological studies show that you get the maximum benefit with surprisingly little exercise -- e.g. ~30 minutes per day, with some intensity. Endurance athletes don't do quite as well, but are still healthier than people who are completely sedentary. Another study of former pro cyclists who participated in at least once Tour de France had a 41% lower mortality rate than the general population.

Barring some future studies, I don't think this is really anything to worry about.

Darth Steele

if you search google long enough you will find a study to support any position...seriously

Usually they these studies talk about the extremes but most people view any physical activity for more than hour to be extreme.

- I use to lift weights 5 days per week, people would ask, fat people would ask me "is that health?". And they are quick to point to studies showing that said behavior is unhealthy. I only cut back on my weight lifting because I am now addicted to my road bike

- There is an old guy around my way that runs 7 days per week, he says that he takes a day off when his body tells him too. But he also points out that he only runs for 1-2 hours and that he is not breaking any speed records. Plus this is what he has conditioned his body to do.


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LesterOfPuppets

Just noticed that article mentions a recommended maximum of 2.5 hours per week.

There's a GIGANTIC gulf between 2.5 hours per week and ultra endurance. Stupidest article ever. not even gonna waste my time with the video.

elcruxio

I put it to you that even 15-20 hours of exercise a week is very beneficial healthwise if the intensity is properly controlled. If you do that 15-20 hours with htfu and "feel the burn" tempo riding every week with racing inbetween with no tapering, you're gonna have a bad time in the future. maybe. possibly not as bad as couch potato.

But still I remember reading somewhere years back that just doing mid/high intensity stuff alot will thicken the heart walls which in turn is not a good thing.

banerjek

That doesn't sound right. You need to do something in order to have a chance of dying from it....

surgeonstone

I guess what I am trying to say is the benefit from exercise is reached at 1 hr 3-5 times a week. More is not necessarily bad, but the benefit is reached earlier than most believe. My great aunt, indeed all in my family, live very long lives. A combination of being active, trim, good diet and not smoking or drinking excessively. None of them were endurance athletes but all lived a long healthy life. Our genes are obviously the most important factor and choosing the right parents will go a lot further in a long life.

freedomrider1

I stopped lifting and just rode for the last 7 years, just recently i started lifting again doing a total body workout 3x a week and it really shows on the bike. Might want to give it a try.

Darth Steele

Right now I am doing about 200-250 miles per week, I ride Tuesday-Friday and Sundays (80-100 miles)

On my off day I try to spend it with my family, I honestly have zero motivation to hit the gym right now. I will hit the gym again consistent during the winter when maintaining my riding schedule is not practical. This past July marks my first year of owning a road bike.

I want to get in as much riding as possible while the weather cooperates.. I have a pretty good idea of the work out routine that I want to do enhance my riding. Now it is just a matter of time.. plus I really really need to start doing yoga.

cafzali

And the study, as I recall, wasn't even specifically talking about endurance sports like cycling per se. But rather, it was talking about people who repeatedly did "ultra marathons" and Ironman competitions. Data is emerging that the combination of the frequent competitions themselves, along with the hard-core training for them, can cause heart scarring over the long term.

But those situations apply to a scant handful of people, relatively speaking. As a former journalist, I know they report this because it's more interesting than "Newsflash: The World is Fat.... Details at 11." That's the far greater problem, not just from an overall health problem, but also as it relates to the expense of providing health care.

NormanF

Why its strenuous physical activity.... and if a guy isn't in the best condition - you draw the picture. Moderate physical activity like cycling, presents no real health hazards.

Doohickie

3 minutes is the "deluxe package"?

DnvrFox

At 74yo, I do what I consider a balanced approach. Swimming 3-4 hours per week, several 15-40 mile rides, hiking/walking during the week, stretching and a variety of resistance exercises such as TRX and regular resistance exercises (bench press, lat pull downs and the like).

Works for me - at least so far

thump55

Intervals. 3 on, 1 off, repeat.