Marathons: How many do you need?
Have you jumped onto the running bandwagon yet? As health and fitness takes centre stage, more people are taking to running. Long distance marathons.
You are proud of the fact that you achieved something that seemed impossible. You are now on the way to a long and healthy life.
Except above a certain threshold, you may not be.
Exercise extends life. No one disputes this. But the relationship between intensity and longevity isn’t linear. It is what scientists call a U curve.
The Copenhagen City Heart Study tracked joggers for over three decades. Moderate joggers, those who jogged up to three times a week at a conversational pace, lived up to six years longer.
A separate analysis of over 660,000 adults confirmed that longevity benefits peak at three to five times the recommended weekly minimum, then plateau.
Push further and the gains don’t grow. They flatten.
A meta-analysis of six case-control studies found long term endurance athletes carry a five-fold greater risk of atrial fibrillation compared to non-athletes.
Systematic reviews confirm that veteran endurance athletes show elevated coronary artery calcification. To be clear, their plaque tends to be calcified and stable rather than the volatile lipid-rich type that causes heart attacks.
Post-marathon troponin studies consistently show 68–95% of finishers with elevated cardiac injury markers. Troponin is the same trop-t test we do when we suspect a heart attack.
So what should you do?
First, if you really enjoy running, don’t stop. Studies will be studies. The human body is remarkably adaptive. Doing something physical is infinitely better than being sedentary.
If you don’t enjoy running, don’t do it because someone told you to. Walk daily instead. Run 15–40 minutes, twice weekly, mostly at a pace where conversation flows easily.
Brief high-intensity intervals remain beneficial.
Your cardiovascular system evolved for bursts of intensity followed by recovery. Not to be on a treadmill day after day.
The moderate mover is likely to live the longest.
Not the sedentary, not the ultramarathoner. The person who respects the curve.
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