General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Endurance athletes die young! Rss Feed  
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2012-05-22 7:58 PM

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Champion
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Subject: Endurance athletes die young!

Earlier today, I played in a pro-am with 4 gentlemen from a local hospital.  I was talking about my multiple marathons, ironman, and desire to do an ultra, and the CEO of the hospital says, "Those extreme athletes die younger than the average."  The shocking part was that the 3 physicians were nodding in agreement.

I gave them the face and asked how many people die younger than average from heart attacks, diabetes, strokes because of an inactive lifestyle.

Not my most politically correct statement, but...



Edited by pga_mike 2012-05-22 8:02 PM


2012-05-22 8:03 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
Did they have an answer for you? Guess they didn't watch the weight of the nationon HBO.

2012-05-22 8:14 PM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

And then ask them whether endurance athletes should instead sit on their @$$3$ instead and gain 200 lbs.  What would they rather you do?

Nice reference with Weight of the Nation.  That was a really good series. 

2012-05-22 8:17 PM
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Coach
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
You should have asked for the evidence that supports it.

When he gives anecdotal evidence based on high profile newspaper stories, ask him if he treats his patients on anecdotal evidence.
2012-05-22 8:19 PM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
Were the comments before or after the 19th hole?
2012-05-22 8:20 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

Younger than who? (whom).  Younger than a non-endurance athlete, that might have some relevance?

I'd rather strive for fitness, strive for challenges - meet great like minded people and above all I've never been more comfortable in my own skin nor as happy doing something!



2012-05-22 8:29 PM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

So? Bring it on. I'd rather not live to be a crusty 100-year-old statue in a wheelchair eating mashed potatoes anyway, thankyouverymuch. 

 

And, this reminded me of a cartoon I like. 

 

2012-05-22 8:46 PM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

If living longer means taking medications for diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure, and in the final years going to dialysis, I'll take dying early but "healthy".  It's all about quality of life.

The current medical industry approach seems to be to manage symptoms, extending life, but not curing the underlying causes of disease.  Some would say that "big pharma" is behind this, but patients share some responsibility, since we just want to "take a pill" to make something better.

2012-05-22 8:52 PM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
mattramirez - 2012-05-22 9:14 PM

And then ask them whether endurance athletes should instead sit on their @$$3$ instead and gain 200 lbs.  What would they rather you do?

Nice reference with Weight of the Nation.  That was a really good series. 

They make more money from obesity than from sudden death during an ironman or a marathon... Food for thought...
2012-05-23 1:42 AM
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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

I have heard this from highly intelligent and educated individuals (in sciences and medicine) as well. I have heard the exact opposite from far more highly intelligent and educated individuals throughout academic disciplines

But I, too, asked--where's the beef? Show me the money. Etc. They couldn't.

There is some evidence that professional cyclists have somewhat shorter lifespans and higher incidence of certain kinds of heart problems than other athletes (not the general population), but a lot of that evidence is from decades prior when, ah, PED use was less controlled.

I might agree that some of the endurance athletes on the tip of the pointy end of the spear aren't that healthy. But we're talking about an extreme subset of an extreme subset who are constantly riding the ragged edge of squeezing that last bit of performance out and weight off.

2012-05-23 4:29 AM
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Master
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

Whatever--I'll go for more life in my years and feeling as alive as I can. Obviously if you have an underlying health issue then extreme sporting efforts could be dangerous, and not everyone's lucky enough to find out they have such an issue before it's too late. But I want to have lots to look back on if/when I finally get to the nursing home/mashed potato stage. Actually, if I dropped dead running, I'd prefer that to going face down in the mashed potatoes, anyway.

That being said....This solo biking thing is going to drive me mad, if not kill me. My last long ride I got "To an Althete Dying Young" stuck in my head! Only I felt like the "strengthless dead" instead of the "early-laureled" young athlete. (If you were awake duiring HS English, you might remember....)



Edited by Hot Runner 2012-05-23 4:32 AM


2012-05-23 5:58 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

I would rather die young knowing I did everything I wanted than live a long life in regret.

2012-05-23 6:01 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
zaugfear - 2012-05-23 6:58 AM

I would rather die young knowing I did everything I wanted than live a long life in regret.

hear, hear

2012-05-23 6:16 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

I once had to sit through a two day conference given by a drug metabolism "expert" who believes (based on his research on allometric scaling) that each species has a finite number of heart beats.  He even mentioned that athletes were wasting their heart beats on running.  Oh, that was a painful two days.

2012-05-23 6:43 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
2012-05-23 7:05 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
mighty mom - 2012-05-23 7:16 AM

I once had to sit through a two day conference given by a drug metabolism "expert" who believes (based on his research on allometric scaling) that each species has a finite number of heart beats.  He even mentioned that athletes were wasting their heart beats on running.  Oh, that was a painful two days.



And what about the REDUCED resting heart rate those runners experience (you know, the MAJORITY of the time spent NOT running when their hearts are beating more slowly than their sedentary counterparts....)


2012-05-23 7:40 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
jsnowash - 2012-05-23 8:05 AM
mighty mom - 2012-05-23 7:16 AM

I once had to sit through a two day conference given by a drug metabolism "expert" who believes (based on his research on allometric scaling) that each species has a finite number of heart beats.  He even mentioned that athletes were wasting their heart beats on running.  Oh, that was a painful two days.

And what about the REDUCED resting heart rate those runners experience (you know, the MAJORITY of the time spent NOT running when their hearts are beating more slowly than their sedentary counterparts....)

Great rebuttal - a day at 75 bpm = 108,000 beats. 

1 hr at 140 bpm + 23 at 50bpm = 77,400.

2012-05-23 7:50 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
roch1009 - 2012-05-23 8:40 AM

jsnowash - 2012-05-23 8:05 AM
mighty mom - 2012-05-23 7:16 AM

I once had to sit through a two day conference given by a drug metabolism "expert" who believes (based on his research on allometric scaling) that each species has a finite number of heart beats.  He even mentioned that athletes were wasting their heart beats on running.  Oh, that was a painful two days.

And what about the REDUCED resting heart rate those runners experience (you know, the MAJORITY of the time spent NOT running when their hearts are beating more slowly than their sedentary counterparts....)

Great rebuttal - a day at 75 bpm = 108,000 beats. 

1 hr at 140 bpm + 23 at 50bpm = 77,400.



I used this exact calculation for one of my morbidly obese classmates in medical school who used the limited heartbeat argument on me. I pointed out the error in his thinking. He didn't know what to say. I often wonder what he looks like 15 years later.......
2012-05-23 7:59 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
The other one that kills me is the, "you are going to need a knee replacement if you keep running like this." I get this from many people in health care.

My response is always the same: I ask, "how many knee replacements do we do in skinny marathon runners?" The answer is, very few. Almost everyone that I see getting a knee replacement is 50-200 lbs overweight and has worn their knees out from carrying around all those extra pounds. In a year my hospital might do 1000 knee replacements and I bet less than 5 of them are in former distance runners (I don't have actual statistics but this is just an observers educated guess on numbers)
2012-05-23 8:04 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
Again - even if the doctors are correct, I'm fine with it.  I'd rather live my active endurance based lifestyle than sit around and slowly fall apart as I get older.  I'd love to be running marathons in my 70's and if that means I don't get to live to my 90's I'm perfectly good with that!
2012-05-23 8:16 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

Well, the studies that are out there rigth now are a little conflicting in this subject.  Observational studies indicate that endurance athletes have a higher life span , but it could be due to genetic or other factors which havent been taken into consideration.  On the other hands new clinical studies show detrimental cardiovascular effects from endurance exercise, specially thickening of the heart valves.

Mind you, most of these studies have been done on marathon runners, so who knows where the limit is where endurance sports stops being healthy and becomes detrimental to your health.  I highly suspect that if we would go exclusively by what is "healthier", other forms of exersice would be better than endurance sports.

But as others have said, much better to deal with the health concerns associated with endurances sprots than with those of obesity.



2012-05-23 8:19 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!
pga_mike - 2012-05-22 7:58 PM

Earlier today, I played in a pro-am with 4 gentlemen from a local hospital.  I was talking about my multiple marathons, ironman, and desire to do an ultra, and the CEO of the hospital says, "Those extreme athletes die younger than the average."

I call HOGWASH!

2012-05-23 8:19 AM
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Master
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

It's actually shocking to me how much bad advice doctors give regarding athletes.

 

Doctors are very good at practicing the specialty, but in general, NOT good with athletes unless they specifically specialize in it, like sports medicine or sports orthopedics.


I actually would not trust any of my doctors' advice regarding sports and fitness recommendations unless they were specifically qualified - I've received so much anecdotal bad advice (like fitness = die younger, running causes heart damage, running will destroy your joints <- this one is incredibly prevalent) that I don't listen to them unless they have good evidence for what they say (which is never for the sports stuff.)

2012-05-23 8:31 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

I love it when doctors exam me and then shake their head and give me that look.     The look that says I have just defied what they have learned as gospel about the human condition, especially about aging.

 

Well said,  Long live the politically incorrect.   Question everything; it's our duty.   

 

I like this particular passage from Jack London.  *He writes better than I do*

******

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

*******

I agree with all but the second to last line.       Triathlon, if not prolonging my life, is allowing me to do what is expressed in the last line, which is maximizing the time that I do have.  Quality of life, and all that.

Carpe Diem, y'all.

 

2012-05-23 8:58 AM
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Subject: RE: Endurance athletes die young!

Maybe the CEO of the hosptial wants more business?

I want to be able to move enough when I'm 70 that I can pursue more things that will increase the chance of me going out in a fireball.


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