The Exercise Paradox: The Trade-Off Between Performance And Aging [New Research! Plus the top 5 most annoying running partners!]

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 Stylin’ at the start line!

Ever had a super annoying running partner*? There’s The Perma-Injured – the person who always has something wrong with him/her, whether it be fallen arches or a sore knee or a blocked aura or whatever. New day, new injury. Then there’s The Whiner – the one who complains about the weather, his shoes, the TV programming, her husband and the chia seeds stuck in their teeth. Don’t forget The Competitor – the guy or girl who is always trying to stay two steps ahead of you, elbowing you off the sidewalk, telling you all their past race times or otherwise letting you know how much you suck at running. Oh and my personal favorite, The Hip Magnet – the fellow runner who apparently has a magnet in their hip that makes them run so close to you that if you were in a tampon ad you’d be holding hands and braiding daisy chains. No matter how many ninja moves you do to try and regain your personal space they will inexorably be drawn back to your side. If you’re lucky they’ll offer you a piggy back.

Well, on Saturday I was That Annoying Person. I ran my first official Colorado race with my friend M. (The other two have just been “family fun run 5ks”) I’m not sure if it was the beautiful sunshine, the perfect running weather, the excellent company or the gorgeous course that put me in such a bad mood but right around mile 4 I turned into The Ranter – the person who picks one tedious topic to keep going on and on about.

To be fair we were running out of new ground to cover – our training runs had taken care of our childhoods, our favorite candies, our kids, fave books, potty training and that one time we both couldn’t stop quoting The Princess Bride. And when you’re running for an hour or more with no music, you have to talk about something. It was either a rant or another pointless story about me accidentally mooning someone or making lasagna with tuna fish**.

So what was the topic I’d chosen to go off on? Running! Of course! Actually, I “treated” M to my now-infamous speech about how too much exercise can harm your health, make you gain weight/fat *** and can even shorten your life. Of course I’ve had to learn this the hard way, with my overexercising debacle. But it turns out that what our bodies consider “too much” may be even less than we’d previously thought. Or at least of a different type of exercise pattern than what we’ve been taught to admire and glorify.

Remember the TED talk from Dr. James O’Keefe, the world-famous cardiologist and reformed marathoner, about his research into cardiovascular exercise? (You should really listen to the whole thing if you haven’t heard it yet! Positively fascinating.) In his talk he says, “The fitness patterns for conferring longevity and robust lifelong cardiovascular health are distinctly different from the patterns that develop peak performance and marathon/superhuman endurance. Extreme endurance training and racing can take a toll on your long-term cardiovascular health.” That’s doctor-speak for what’s good for your ego may not be what’s good for your body.

A recent talk by Dr. Rhonda Patrick delves into the mechanism behind the biological trade-offs we make when we workout hard and for long periods of time. It turns out that the thing that makes us better athletes – human growth h0rmone and the consequent IGF-1 signalling – is also the thing that can shorten our lives. Yeah, you read that right.

First, the basics (which I gleaned from Wiki, WebMD and other ‘net sources so feel free to correct me if I get this wrong!): Human growth hormone is a hormone produced in your pituitary gland. HGH causes your liver to release insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). You’ve probably heard of HGH as a “miracle” hormone – it’s the whole premise of the dubious HCG diet that got so much attention a couple of years ago – because IGF-1 has lots of cool benefits in your body and therefore everyone wants more of it.

HGH/IGF-1 promote muscle growth, enhance muscle recovery, increases lean muscles mass while simultaneously decreasing fat, and it boosts cognition by both helping the brain grow new neurons (yep, it’s possible) and by preventing neurons from dying off. Too little HGH and your growth is stunted, your brain function decreases and your sex drives plummets. Stronger, leaner AND smarter? Who wouldn’t want all that awesomeness?? This is why HGH remains one of the hottest and most abused “performance enhancing” drugs on the market. (You can only legally get it with a doctor’s prescription, by the way.) I think it says a lot that it’s one of the handful of drugs Lance Armstrong actually admitted to using.

However, HGH has one major side effect that people don’t talk about much: It decreases longevity. The more HGH you have, the shorter your life. First, animal studies have shown a 50% (!) increase in life span when the animals are deficient in HGH/IGF-1 with the converse also being shown true in research. Since it’s impossible to do human studies of the like, scientists looked at people who genetically can’t produce much HGH. The lower their IGF-1, the longer they lived – so much so that living to 100 is directly linked to having a low HGH “polymorphism”, i.e. genetic variation. (The reason for this didn’t make a ton of sense to me – something about IGF-1 increasing oxidative stress on your cells and oxidation is the #1 cause of aging. If you can answer this better, please help me out!)

So wait – Stronger, leaner, smarter AND dead younger? Who wouldn’t want all that… oops. It turns out that according to Dr. Patrick, it’s a trade off. There are times in our lives when HGH is naturally very high and other times when it’s naturally very low and there’s not much we can do about that. But there is one major way to increase HGH – with exercise. And the harder the exercise, the bigger the spike in HGH. It’s one of the many touted benefits of high-intensity interval training methods.

We often think of exercise as a way to extend our lives – and it can be, if you do it right. Exercise has a long, well-proven list of benefits physically, mentally and spiritually. Nobody is telling you that sitting on your butt and eating chips all day is a good plan. (Okay sometimes it is – we’ve all had those days! – just not always.) But according to Dr. Eric Larose’s research, presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, it can take your heart up to 3 months to completely recover from the stress of a marathon. If your goal is to become a high-level athlete then know you are sacrificing some health farther down the line. If your goal is simply to be as healthy as you can be then know that you are sacrificing a level of performance. The trick is to find the balance where you get the benefits of increased HGH without reaching the levels where it markedly shortens your life.

You may remember Micah True – he’s the ultramarathoner (and subject of the famous book Born to Run) who tragically died on a routine 12-mile run at the relatively young age of 58. Not only was he an elite athlete but he was a paragon of athletic virtue, eating a clean healthy diet and getting lots (and lots and lots) of exercise, yet he died of heart disease – the very thing that a clean diet and lots of exercise is supposed to help prevent. An autopsy found his heart to be very enlarged, particularly the left ventricle, with scar tissue covering it – one expert opined that physically it was worse than if he’d been a life-long smoker. Alarmists said this was proof that running is bad for us. Apologists said this was a fluke and True was a victim of bad genes combined with unfortunate circumstances. I think both are wrong. Exercise is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. The problem with using True as a model or cautionary tale is that the damage can start long before you die so using a catastrophic example when talking about general health is not very useful. And, as heart-rending as they are, neither are anecdotal tales. But there is a middle ground between ultra-marathons (or even just marathons) and Lifetime TV couch marathons.

So where exactly is that middle ground? It’s probably different from person to person but Dr. O’Keefe says that his research has found it’s running 2-3 miles at a moderate pace (or 20-30 minutes of cardio) several times a week. For many people it’s a struggle to do even that much but for some of us the struggle is in not getting drawn into the longer-better-faster-stronger mentality of triathlons, marathons and other longer endurance activities. Am I saying that doing a Triathlon will kill you? It’s almost certain it won’t – at least not in the moment you’re doing it. And I do think there’s some benefit in doing something Big for the satisfaction of accomplishing it. But just as there are physical tolls incurred, so there are mental, economic, time and practical costs involved. It’s important to look past the ego and the hype and make sure you are weighing all the risks when you decide whether or not to attempt something.

[TL;DR] If you take only one thing from my Running Rant, let it be this: When it comes to exercising for good health, something is better than nothing but more of something is not always better.

And now you know what it’s like running a race with me! Want to douse me with a cup of Gatorade yet? To all my friends who’ve had to endure variations on this rant over the past few years (learning curves are full of sharp points), I promise not to torture you with this again!

Does this longevity vs performance trade-off surprise you? What’s your “sweet spot” for exercise where you feel awesome and healthy but not worn down and single-focused? Anyone have a super-annoying running buddy to add to my list??

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 Sweaty at the stop line!

*Make no mistake, I’m not denigrating them. I have been ALL of these people on one run or another. Dear running partners, I’m sorry. Thanks for putting up with me!

**grossgrossgrossgrossgross I thought it would be like tuna casserole. It was not.

*** M and I discussed this on the drive home and we both feel “squishier” than before we started training for this race. (Mine is actually true – I gained 3% body fat. (Don’t worry, I’m not stressing over it!) M’s was more of a feeling and frustration that after all this running she hadn’t lost weight – not that she needs to!!) She was surprised by this. I, alas, was not. Gotta get back to my weight lifting!!

26 Comments

  1. Ok – I think this is fascinating. I’m actually doing a cardiology rotation right now (I’m a soon-to-be physician doing my internship), and was having this conversation with one of my staff the other day. As someone who, like you, genuinely LOVES to exercise (and played high-level volleyball for a good 15+ years) but often struggles with doing too much, this really hit home. I’ve started to wrap my head around the fact that marathon running (I’ve done two) isn’t the best in terms of weight loss/maintenance and aesthetic ideals…but to hear that I could actually be doing serious damage to my heart? Craziness. I agree that obviously the Micah True example is an extreme case; an unfortunate combination of genetics and constant exercise-induced cardiovascular strain. But this is all really making me think…I mean, I LOVE to sense of accomplishment after I finish a marathon; I love having a goal to train towards. I don’t know if I could just be happy “running at a moderate pace” for half a hour a few times a week, you know? I mean, since exercise and physical activity is something I enjoy so much, maybe I’d rather participate in it fully and die a few years younger (let’s face it, quality of life can be an issue in later years).
    I’m super interested to hear what others have to say about this. Thanks for the post, Charlotte! Your blog is my absolute favourite 🙂

    • Ahhhh a real doctor!! I kind of want to throw myself at your feet screaming like a total fangirl. You are my One Direction, Katie! And it’s good to know that some of this is coming through in medical teaching circles as well. There’s definitely a quality of life issue, like you pointed out – which is why I try hard not to tell people to never run (or to always run or whatever). You have to do what makes you happy! But I also want people to have all the info so if marathoning is what makes you happy maybe just take precautions in other aspects of your life to allow adequate recovery. Like I said before, there’s a lot of ground between Micah True and Homer Simpson. Keep me posted on what you learn about yourself (and what they tell you in med school)!!

      • Hahaha love the One Direction reference – you are too cute! When I find the time, I’m going to do some more digging on this – I want to go back and look at the original studies and see how they selected their subjects, how they controlled for potentially confounding variables (like the fact that marathon runners like myself are typically totally type-A, find-it-hard-to-relax kind of people), all that kind of stuff. I’ll keep you posted!

  2. Wow, I knew there were health downsides to marathon training, but did not know about the research saying the “sweet spot” is so minimal. I’d heard other studies that seemed to grant a more generous amount of cardio and allow for HIIT etc. Will have to look into this… I know I feel much more energetic and healthy and happy with higher levels of both duration and intensity than just a few moderate paced 2-3 milers a week. So I’m not sure I want to cut back and have to trade the current energy/happiness that more exercise brings for additional years of life, but at least it would be good to know exactly what the parameters are.

    Thanks yet again for digging up such interesting (if depressing) research!

    • It wasn’t meant to be depressing! More just to get the information out there. I mean, there’s a lot of ground between ultramarathons and TV marathons and you have to find the spot that works best for you in your life right now! Plus, like Katie above said, there’s a quality of life issue. Sure you could live way longer with super-low HGH but who wants to live to be 100 if you’re short, have no sex drive and are cognitively impaired?!

  3. You forgot about the running partner that has to pee all the time. The one who doesn’t bring their own water/fuel and mooches off others. The one who is constantly for your scheduled runs.

    I’m all of those. Except the late one. I am NEVER late. Ever. Seriously.

  4. See, that’s why I run alone when I do run. I don’t want to feel obligated to carry on a conversation while I’m panting and exerting myself. If you can gab that much while running, you’re not working hard enough. Hush up and SWEAT.

    My yoga partner is a total “always injured” person. I love her (not just because she gives me a ride to yoga and I hate driving) but dang, girl, you should be in a full body cast by now with all the injuries you supposedly have!

    • Haha – point well taken! I will say that I was breathing pretty heavy during the race. All that talking came out in 2-3 word bursts with silence when we went up hills. Which makes me sound like an even bigger dork. Ah well.

  5. Hmmm. This one is going to be hard for me to comment on without ranting a bit. I used to run 40+ miles a week and every Saturday did at least a 12 mile run just because it felt good. I felt great. Strong, healthy, tough, kick ass, all that. One majorly herniated disc, 4 years of intense chronic pain, and one major spine surgery later, I can say that in hindsight I probably could have been nicer to my body and perhaps spared myself some agony. I think this study and my own experience highlight the simple fact that in almost every aspect of life, moderation is best. Too much of anything is never reall good despite how great it will make us feel.

    *oh, and you could add to your list the energizer bunny running partner. My running buddy was full of energy and after a 15 mile run would be bouncing around talking about how great she felt when I was feeling no where near so perky. Kind of wanted to trip her sometimes!

    • Rant away Heather! (Haha maybe you and I should run together.) I’m so sorry to hear about your disc and back injury! I’ve heard nothing is worse than back/neck pain. I’m glad you are on the mend – you make a really important point about how it’s not just the heart muscle that takes a beating (har!). Thanks for sharing your story.

  6. So interesting! Thanks for summing this all up Charlotte. You know I’ve struggled too with overexercising so I appreciate the fuel for those days when it seems like a good idea to live at the gym.

    Personally, I’ve found that 2 high intensity cardio days (around 45mins of cardo each), 2 heavy lifting days, and one low-key day (Pilates, long walk, etc) per week make me feel my best. The urge to do more cardio is still there but it’s nice to see that what I’ve noticed in my own body matches up pretty closely with the research.

    • Yeah, I think for people like you and I it really helps to have “official” confirmation that taking care of ourselves and listening to our bodies is the right thing to do. It sounds silly but after years of distrusting, hating and abusing my body I still have a hard time really “listening” to it and believing what it tells me:) Glad you’ve found a good balance!!

  7. I also exercise alone (except for yoga classes). I’m such a Grumpy Gus sometimes, and I don’t want to bring anyone else down with me. Plus, I like to work out on my own terms, and can be very selfish about it. 🙂
    This morning I started a vegan cleanse (solid food included, thankfully!), and one bit of advice is not to overdo it physically. So I’ll be doing some easier yoga, walking, and lighter weights during the next 10 days.
    And trying not to hurt myself or anyone else over the complete lack of caffeine in my life.

    (P.S., I would totally be the runner who has to pee all the time!)

  8. I’ve definitely have run with these annoying runners and I’m sure I’ve been an annoying running partner as well.

  9. Congrats on your race! With exercise, I’m really an all or nothing person. I enjoy training for distance races and figure it’s probably better for me than just sitting on the couch and eating potato chips. I see folks doing races at 70, 80, 90… figure that I’d rather take the gamble to be THAT kind of old fogey rather than the one who has trouble walking down the street.

  10. One of my running buddies loves to chat while we run…fast. If I’m doing a speedy two mile workout I need all my energy for running, not catching up on the weekend. We can do that after our run. Let me breathe!!

  11. Hm. Personally, I feel like no matter what my training I have a certain ‘threshold’ of training hours before I’m wiped out. No matter how I structure it, how much I eat or how carefully, I can’t seem to do more than 4-5 hours of cardio a week–and even that’s high. I’ve been fine on 3. Less than 3 and I’m bouncing off the walls, though. (BTW I also lift). It’s not even a matter of willpower; if I haven’t been getting enough exercise for my body it will kind of force me to move around more even if it’s just walking a lot. So there is that. I wonder if people have an exercise set point?

    That aside, the cardiology intrigues me. I am a runner but not long-distance (middle distance is my thing, though I did a few training cycles specializing in 5k and have run decent mileage). I have a very low heart rate and sinus bradycardia, which doctors tell me is “normal for an athlete.” Whatever that means. Hm…

    And then there is my dad, who has taken up jogging 3 miles at a time in about 30 minutes, 4-5 times per week. He had a stent placed last year and since then, the running + a specialized diet have helped him lower his blood pressure and his heart rate extremely (heart rate is down like 20 bpm and that was largely BEFORE the diet!). So I guess that is good?

    Very interesting post, want to read more studies.

  12. The studies cited focus on extreme endurance exercise. I’m wondering about the data regarding resistance exercise. I primarily lift weights. It seems intuitive that there might also be a point of diminishing returns for lifting, when it comes to stress on the body and longevity. Have you seen any studies where there is a “sweet spot” for weight training?

  13. I can certainly attest to the idea that exercise and training can be abusive and hence shorten the lifespan or health over all of a person. I was a collegiate bike racer and that was one of the least healthy times of my life. I was always pushing myself on little sleep, poor diet and essentially trying to see how much abuse I could withstand. Of course, that was then I thought stress and abuse was the corner stone of effective training which I now believe is false.

    Just like all things in fitness, (like diet and working out) it’s only healthy if it’s not abusive.

  14. Having been on an “exercise detox” for four months (walking, pilates, yoga, and alignment exercises) this was motivation to stay the course. In my case it was more about the herniated disc/degenerating hips (like Heather above) but those are equally good reasons. Even if I don’t die from a heart attack I don’t really want hip replacement surgery either. Still I haven’t completely ruled out running again. I do miss it. Katy Bowman from http://www.restorativeexercise.com has a great analogy, referring to the hard/fast/long stuff we love as “exercise dessert,” and as she told me, I had been overindulging on exercise dessert for far too long. I know now that if I ever do another marathon it will probably feel a lot like the last chocolate malt I drank–it will feel great while it’s going down, but will make me feel awful right after and won’t be the best choice for my body.

  15. Honest – there are so many studies & then 5 years later they say something different so I just keep doing what I feel is right for me. 🙂

  16. Thanks for sharing (especially the TED Talk), Charlotte. A really fascinating post! 🙂

  17. “when you’re running for an hour or more with no music, you have to talk about something.”

    Run alone now and then, only open your mouth to breath and practice listening to the world. It turns out that life comes with its own soundtrack.

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