High Intensity Exercise may be Dangerous

[KungFuPanda]

You cannot talk runners out of running. It must be like crack for some folks. I have an unusual number of runner friends. They will do things like get stress fractures, heal, then run again. They'll get knee surgery, then run again. Their feet and legs can be shot, but if you suggest that running is to blame, or that they take up swimming, they GLARE at you like you're conspiring against them.

[Hikin' Mama]

KungFuPanda, I think you're right! I'm envisioning the scene from Monte Python in which the guy insists he's got "merely a flesh wound!"

[EthiopianFood]

You cannot talk runners out of running. It must be like crack for some folks. I have an unusual number of runner friends. They will do things like get stress fractures, heal, then run again. They'll get knee surgery, then run again. Their feet and legs can be shot, but if you suggest that running is to blame, or that they take up swimming, they GLARE at you like you're conspiring against them.

 

 

I've never been athletic, but always thought running might be fun. I decided to try it (on a treadmill, so pseudorunning!) and even as a fatty, I kid you not, I got such an adreneline rush from it that I would almost OBSESS about when I would be able to run that day. :huh: I was shocked, to say the least.

[KungFuPanda]

I've never been athletic, but always thought running might be fun. I decided to try it (on a treadmill, so pseudorunning!) and even as a fatty, I kid you not, I got such an adreneline rush from it that I would almost OBSESS about when I would be able to run that day. :huh: I was shocked, to say the least.

 

 

That NEVER happened to me. Granted, I never ran more than 6-7 miles, but I always just felt hungry and sleepy after a run. Besides, runners always find the bodies. Who needs THAT?

[I.Dup.]

That NEVER happened to me. Granted, I never ran more than 6-7 miles, but I always just felt hungry and sleepy after a run. Besides, runners always find the bodies. Who needs THAT?

 

That elusive adrenaline rush never happened to me either. I just always felt horrible and more tired after exercising intensely, lol.

[poppy]

I think a whole lot more people suffer from the aches and pain and fatigue and insomnia of being too sedentary than any issue with HIIT. Sitting too much is a public health crisis. Which leadsto heart disease and diabetes and raises risks for certain types of cancers, not to mention the people who spend hours at doctors and online online trying to figure out why they feel lousy all the time. Bad knees from high intensity running just means maybe try mixing in some spin classes.

[KungFuPanda]

I think a whole lot more people suffer from the aches and pain and fatigue and insomnia of being too sedentary than any issue with HIIT. Sitting too much is a public health crisis. Which leadsto heart disease and diabetes and raises risks for certain types of cancers, not to mention the people who spend hours at doctors and online online trying to figure out why they feel lousy all the time. Bad knees from high intensity running just means maybe try mixing in some spin classes.

 

Nobody is going to argue with you there, but we were comparing regular high intensity workouts to regular lower intensity exercise.

[wapiti]

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I've been running on and off for many years, and never felt as good as I do now from running while eating LCHF. I take it pretty easy though, i.e., I'm slow.

 

Which reminds me, there's some discussion in The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance about intensity, higher not necessarily being better for weight loss benefits (though obviously there may be other benefits). I can't remember exactly, just that there was some sort of controversy over it amongst certain scientific types...or something.

[poppy]

 

 

Nobody is going to argue with you there, but we were comparing regular high intensity workouts to regular lower intensity exercise.

 

 

I have mixed feelings on this. Of course ANY exercise is better than none. But light treadmill walking, recreational biking under 10mph, and similar exercises at that level will not make a person fit. I feel like the magazines really sell a fantasy (â€walk away two dress sizes by July!") that doing a base level of movement to not be sedentary is enough. Of course it is better than nothing, but it also gives a false impression and prevents people from pushing themselves enough to really feel good and have as much energy as they should. At the opposite end, programs like P90X is obviously potentially dangerous too. But it might have a life changing impact, if done smartly, in a way the old rules of 30 minutes 3 times a week won't.

[Susan in TN]

 

 

I've never been athletic, but always thought running might be fun. I decided to try it (on a treadmill, so pseudorunning!) and even as a fatty, I kid you not, I got such an adreneline rush from it that I would almost OBSESS about when I would be able to run that day. :huh: I was shocked, to say the least.

 

I ran for 3 years. Not even a whiff of adrenalin ever. It's almost embarrassing how easy it was to quit running.

[EthiopianFood]

That NEVER happened to me. Granted, I never ran more than 6-7 miles, but I always just felt hungry and sleepy after a run. Besides, runners always find the bodies. Who needs THAT?

 

Wow, 6-7 MILES? I can't even imagine! I wasn't even running half the time, and I'm sure I was running a lot slower than you. Wow, I'm obsessing about the possible implications. I have NEVER been athletic, even when I was thin. Maybe I was meant to be?! My mom was a track star, my dad and half sister are runners. I always assumed I didn't get the gene. :huh:

[EthiopianFood]

I ran for 3 years. Not even a whiff of adrenalin ever. It's almost embarrassing how easy it was to quit running.

 

I didn't say I stuck with it. :glare: But it made me understand drug addicts for the first time! Wow, if I'm apparently really lucky with this, I just don't have an excuse for how overweight I am.... :huh:

[StephanieZ]

I just have to say that I love running. Just have to speak up for the beauty and joy of running across the earth. It is a natural and miraculous thing.

 

Also, running is not always HIIT. In fact, distance runners run the vast majority of our miles in a low to moderate heart rate zone. We just get so strong that we can run without it spiking our hr. :) It takes a lot of miles to get that strong, but long term runners get there. Distance runners generally run less than 5-10% of our mileage at high intensity.

 

Also, I beleive that runners, overall, live longer and healthier than sedentary people. That is pretty inarguable. It may be that I could get similar health benefits by using some idiotic elliptical or other robot-like machine, but I would hate it, so I would not do it, thus I would not get any benefits from it. I love to run, so I run, so I am not a couch potato. The reason so many runners are so passionate about their sport is becuase running is uniquely awesome. I get that it isn't that way for everyone, and I am ok with that, albeit a bit sad for those missing out. Maybe it's like being a mom . . . Being a parent is so amazingly wonderful to me that I feel sad for people who choose to be childless, even if I understand that is their preference. I just feel sad that they don't have what I love so much . . . I understand intellectually that they wouldn't be happy as parents, but I feel sad for them. Same goes for people who don't love chocolate . . .

 

Also, the mental benefits of exercise, especially from running in particular, can not be understated. While not everyone loves to run, some of us do really, truly love it. Moving your body over the earth is meditative and spiritual, once you get past the feeling that you're about to die.

 

I think it boils down to finding a sport you love and just doing it.

 

Also, running a marathon just makes you feel so freaking invincible and humble at the same time. It is indescribable. I love that I did that. Twice last year. And looking forward to it again someday soon enough.

 

I just love to run, and I think everyone else should run because I love it so much. :)

 

Ok, I have to end this running proselytizing because I need to get up in less than five hours . . . So that if can do a post moonset, predawn run during the meteor shower. Man alive, I am stoked.

[Stayseeliz]

I enjoyed running when I tried it a few years ago but a run-in with a pair of ill-fitting running shoes messed my feet up. And trying to plan around my husband's busy work schedule was a pain. I need something I can do at home. But I was never obsessive about running. Now if I had to quit lifting weights I'd be pretty sad. I'll admit that!

[Negin]

But I like to.

Yes, I used to like to also. I still sometimes do and I have such wonderful memories of running. I ran for years until my mid-30s. I now realize, however, that it would further damage my knees and that's just the start of possible problems. I'm 45 now. I can't do what I did at 25, nor do I think that it would be wise.

The key thing, I think, is to listen to your body. Again, I can no longer do all that I did in my 20s and early 30s. I wish I could. Twenty years ago, when my dad was in his early 60s, he and I used to go jogging every morning. One day, we almost tripped over a body on the ground :huh:. Turns out the poor guy had just died, collapsed right there. He used to run every morning, but suffered from high blood pressure. Since my dad had been suffering from it also, I asked him to stop running and he never did again. He now walks, swims and cycles every day. He takes a milder approach and is doing great for someone in his early 80s.

[Sandsam]

I'm run for 30 years, having done a great many marathons and beyond. I agree; running (or the feeling from running) is a high like no other. I think the key is to find an exercise that is enjoyable, build up endurance and strength over time, and keep the effort in moderation. I used to push myself to the max in nearly every run. Now, after reading all the studies on extreme exercise, I am very content to work within my comfort zone.

 

The HIIT movement gives me the willies. Too many not-in-shape folks try to go from 0 to 100 in the course of a couple months using highly-hyped tapes. No wonder they are having bad reactions. Like much of life, there is no quick fix. Taking care of our bodies is a lifelong process.

[mrs.m]

Meh. I'll take my chances. I jog three miles and do a HIIT for the 4th mile with what I have left. I worked my way up to it though and I know my sprint is a lot of people's regular pace since I'm a turtle but it's intense enough for me. It's not like I just got up off the couch one day and decided to give it a try. It took a year to get myself up to the 3 miles and another 6 to add in the HIIT.

 

Health benefits so far have been lower blood pressure. I don't have to take meds any longer according to the doctor. And I've lost a lot of weight but I'm nicely toned since I strength train as well (mostly body weight and light DB training). Running affords me some sanity in my life and gives me some calories to allow for an occassion splurge. The HIIT training does boost my metobolism as well.