My friend Brady sent me this video the other day. It has been gaining traction around the interweb and I felt I had to share and comment on it. Warning: If you're a runner, or know and care about a runner you may not like what you hear, which is exactly what the producers want. The speaker, Dr. James O'Keefe, an avid exercise enthusiast himself, presents an argument claiming too much running in terms of volume and/or intensity may in fact be bad for our hearts. Unfortunately, this theory is a growing trend in the field of exercise science, however much of the reasoning laid out in this video is of full of loopholes and potentially flawed data interpretation skewed towards a confirmation bias. Click here if you'd like to read someone much smarter and more qualified than me pick this video apart.
I must admit, as an avid runner myself, and a promoter of the suffer better philosophy, this video delivers a message I don't really want to hear, which causes a certain degree of cognitive dissonance. I love living (duh) and hope to live a long and vibrant life. I felt I was mostly doing all the right things in terms of diet and exercise. I still feel I am, however now I'm not quite as sure.
But, does this information really change anything? At one point Dr. O'Keefe says, "running is supposed to add years to your life, and even life to your years." This part struck me because I've never really thought of running as something that is "adding" years to my life, but I'm sure there are a certain percentage of runners out there who do approach running with this in mind. For instance, people who have taken up running after quitting cigarettes, or people who have battled with excessive weight.
I'm a "life to your years" type of runner. In fact, I'd be willing to bet most runners out there think of themselves as "life to your years" types of runners. We run for the social connections. We use running as a vessel to get outside and enjoy nature, or our city. We run to challenge ourselves and chase goals. We run because it makes us feel good. We run because it's ingrained in us. It's a part of what defines us. It's a part of our being.
I suppose since I've run twice since watching this video (both times with some vigor) it didn't have much of an effect on me. I wouldn't expect any "life to your years" types of runners to be much affected by this news either. The information as it's presented in this video is alarmist and meant to capture our attention to generate interest in their research. You can show me all the studies you want about heart health and longevity, but none of it's "real" until we know what's going on inside our own bodies, which is what I really think this conversation should be about.
Don't tell me excessive or vigorous running might be bad for my heart. That will have zero effect on me and just about every runner I know. We all know too much of something is usually a bad thing, but how do we know how much is too much? It varies for each individual and depends on multiple factors such as genetics, training history, diet, environment, sleep, and stress to name just a few.
If Dr. O'Keefe truly cared about people's heart health and longevity, he'd be advocating for more access on an individual basis to the simple cardiac scan he refers to in his speech. It's just an x-ray in 3-D form. These things should be affordable and routine for anyone over the age of say, 40. Only when armed with this concrete information would we be able to make an intelligent and rational decision about whether or not to continue running. Not until somebody shows me an image of my calcified, clogged arteries might I ever consider giving up the activity that brings me so much joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment