IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO MUCH EXERCISE?
As a martial artist for many years now, I’ve never been a big fan of long distance running. I’d much rather go the interval route like fighting in the boxing ring. I’ve also encouraged patients to follow more of a modified interval type training designed to increase cardiac function and resiliency. And, quite frankly, I don’t think humans were designed for long distance aerobic activity.
Seriously–think of a single animal we would have stalked or been stalked by that would’ve taken an hour to accomplish? Think you can outrun a tiger for an hour? Chase an antelope for an hour? I’m thinking not…
So this study looked at ventricular function in normally trained and endurance trained athletes after a short bouts (14, 1 minute) of all out running. They found that, in the endurance trained athletes there was a reduction in heart function that wasn’t present in the normally trained athletes. So why is this? I have spoken to runner’s groups about the amount of oxidative stress generated during endurance events. It is highly likely that these endurance athletes may be in a chronic state of oxidative stress, leading to rapid reduction in cardiac function with high levels of intense exercise.