Originally Posted by
rubiksoval
No limit to how much low-end aerobic exercise is too much?
Because I don't for a second believe that racing flat out for hours at a time is good for you like elite cyclists, runners, etc., are prone to do.
This study just came out in JAMA, so I had another chance to look at it. I think some here might be misinterpreting the study. It's a study of 122,007 consecutive patients who had to take a treadmill test. They were ranked, not by volume of training or anything like that, but by performance on the test. IOW, you'd kill it. The ranking judged "Elite," the top 97.7% ranked by performance, had the fewest deaths from all causes over the next ~10 years. And as you know, you get to be elite by doing lots of intervals and riding your guts out. When I took mine at 72, with a left bundle branch blockage, I was ranked as a 47 y.o. highly fit individual, though the doc didn't give me my percentage rank.
Anyway, the bottom line is that there is no downside, in terms of all-cause mortality, to maximizing cardiovascular fitness.
In this cohort study of 122 007 consecutive patients undergoing exercise treadmill testing, cardiorespiratory fitness was inversely associated with all-cause mortality without an observed upper limit of benefit.