Sep
3
A reader of 60 in 3 recently sent me this article by Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple. The article describes how endurance training can actually be bad for you due to the continuous strain it places on your body.
First of all, I would recommend that everyone read this article as it has a number of good facts about your body. Remember, the more you can educate yourself about how your body works, the better you’ll be to make decisions such as this for yourself. Second, before you decide that the gym is the cause of all your aches, let’s actually take a look at what the article says.
Endurance training can be bad for you
Yes, this is absolutely true, and the article explains why. Essentially, when you train for something like a marathon or triathalon, you are placing continuous strain on your body. Your body has systems in place to cope with this strain, but this comes at a cost. That cost is aches, pains and sometimes permanent damage to your body. I’m not going to repeat the entire article here, but I do completely agree with its points. Prolonged endurance training can cause long term damage to your bones, muscles and circulatory systems.
So I should quit my cardio routine?
The key word in that last sentence was prolonged. What we’re talking about here is endurance athletes who train for marathon, triathlons and other such events. Their training regimen includes daily runs or rides that last for hours. If this is you, then yes, you are doing damage to your body. However, the majority of us who are not trying to train for a long endurance event and who are simply doing this to get a bit fitter are just fine. Our cardio routines are relatively short and only happen twice or three times a week.
Example
When I first started jogging, I had the exact same mindset that Mark describes “more is better.” Since a little running was good for me, a lot of running should be great. I ran for an hour every weekday and longer on the weekends. I did lose weight, but I was also in constant pain. My shins and feet were especially painful and it got to a point where I had difficulty running. So I cut things down a bit, to only three days a week and only 45 minutes each. That worked like a charm. My body felt better and the pains went away.
These days I cut running down even further. Three times a week for 30 minutes each, but I did add a fourth cardio session on a stationary bike. The biking is much lower stress but is still good cardio.
Summary
Interestingly enough, the only sports related injury I had was when I was training for a half marathon about two years ago. It was a stress fracture in my right foot due to the long running sessions I was doing in preparation for the event. To me, that really drove home the fact that endurance training is good, but only in moderation. Three or four sessions a week, none of them more than 30 minutes. Also, if you are running, try to avoid hard surfaces like asphalt of pavement. Those will add to the potential injuries because of their impact on your feet and lower legs.
So yes, those marathon runners, triathlons runners and tour de France bikers you see out there are actually harming themselves in the long run. They’re still healthier than someone 100lbs overweight who never gets off the couch, but they’re not as healthy as the fit person who works out in moderation. That’s you I hope.
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Comments
2 Responses to “Too much of a good thing: Can endurance training be bad for us?”
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So it sounds like you would recomend a mixed cardio program - maybe running every other day and fill in the gaps with stationary bike? I have just started my cardio program and wsa planning to try and run every day on my trreadmill this winter - but perhaps I should rethink that and buy a bike?
Hello John,
Yes, I would definitely recommend a mixed program. Running every day of the week is going to be very rough on your legs as it was on mine. You may want to think about cutting the running down to three times a week and then subbing in some other cardio. Biking is great, much lower impact and makes for a great substitute for running.
I switched in biking and the elliptical for two of my running days and I’m doing much better. I actually managed to improve my running performance at a faster pace when I did this than when I was running every day.
Also watch the time you spend running. Anything over 45 minutes to an hour, is probably too much.
Gal