High Intensity Exercise may be Dangerous - Link to Article

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by hotncmom

And I agree with you. I agree with much of what Katy asserts, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw Ballet Body or floorwork or yoga out of my fitness routine, because I enjoy doing them and they do use muscle.

Perhaps I misread one of the articles, but didn't she say she felt that resistance training of some kind was still important? or did I get that completely wrong?

There's pretty much nothing I'm going to throw out of my routine. Probably I read Katy more in terms of things that would be helpful to include, rather than things to throw out. She's also somewhat aligned with the Paleo movement, and that's something I'll just never do (happy VF is a diet free zone )

eta: sara1000 and hotncmom - yes. 220-age is essentially useless for me also...it's far more useful to use heart rate reserve of any other formula taking RHR into account, if using anything at all.

[thaispice]

Originally Posted by Sara1000

I read recently (don't recall where - maybe someone here knows) about a study that showed waitresses who did not work out but walked all day at work were found to be more fit than people who did an hour of exercise most days and then sat all day. Don't know what kind of exercise they did.

This was from the PBS documentary by Michael Mosley, "The Truth about Exercise."

Here's a link to the documentary:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2364989581

Here's a link to a thread about it:
http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=191801

[Pratima]

Originally Posted by Sara1000

I read recently (don't recall where - maybe someone here knows) about a study that showed waitresses who did not work out but walked all day at work were found to be more fit than people who did an hour of exercise most days and then sat all day. Don't know what kind of exercise they did.

I used to teach preschool and was on my feet pretty much all day. I didn't have much time to eat (quick breakfast before work and quick bite of lunch with my class!) and not a lot of time to exercise. I do think that being active that way would make it easier to be healthy, but it's just not an option for everyone anymore.

No matter what definition you use--fit, healthy, etc.--being active (i.e. using your body as much as possible in a variety of ways) is probably the best thing for all.

[F1mom]

Originally Posted by hotncmom

Here is the Katy Bowman (Restorative Exercise Institute) take on it:

http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysa...lood-pressure/

http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysa...blood-physics/

http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysa...still-sitting/

So based on what she's saying something like Ballet Body or P57 would probably be okay for someone with HBP but something more intense like the Dream Body series would a no-go?

[flamingoo]

This is a little off topic, but I have to throw it out there. Heart problems run on my dad's side. He died of a heart attack in his sleep when I was 16. I had an uncle who died at age 18 and 2 more that have had multiple bypass surgeries. I have a very very mild irregular heartbeat( nothing that I need meds for) I keep up on all the testing and have had an EKG, Ultrasound, blood work, etc, I started doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution a few months ago and really liked it! Totally different than what I was doing. About 1 month into the program, I noticed my heart rate picking up here and there, didn't really think anything of it. Then one morning I thought I was having a heart attack. My heart was racing, I couldn't breath, etc I'm only 38 .Everything checked out o.k. I did a little research and determined it was probably an anxiety attack, which I've never dealt with. There were a lot of other things going on in my life as well. Certain websites said higher intensity workouts were o.k( I know Jillian isn't that high, but at the time it was for me) I had another episode a week later and was able to talk myself/breath my way out of it. I decided to stop Jillian and start back in with Ballet and walking/meditation. Ever since I dropped Jillian I haven't had another episode. Has anyone else experienced this with anxiety? Sorry if I got off topic a bit

[hotncmom]

Originally Posted by F1mom

So based on what she's saying something like Ballet Body or P57 would probably be okay for someone with HBP but something more intense like the Dream Body series would a no-go?

Yes, that kind of training included with lots and lots of walking. She teaches about something called "turbulent flow" which is how the blood flows through the vessels when the body is under stress (emotional or physical). In a nutshell, turbulent flow causes the arterial walls to be wounded by the blood cells, which are not perfectly rounded but have edges and are shaped more like hamburger buns. So when your blood flow, which needs to stay smooth and gentle, gets turbulent due to stress hormones (and other factors), it's like shaking up a snow globe inside your blood vessels and the blood cells start bouncing against the walls of the arteries, causing little wounds. Plaque and calcium deposits inside your arteries are actually scar tissue from your body's attempt to repair the wounding.

Katy shows evidence that stress from high intensity exercise is not differentiated from other types of stress, the hormones that cause turbulent flow (adrenaline, etc.) are still released.

Plaque buildup in certain areas is not coincidence, according to Katy. It is a response to continual turbulent flow in that area. Other things that cause turbulent flow are smoking, high blood sugar, and your body position (if you blood vessels are "bent" they create a corner for the blood cells to constantly bump into. So think about how our head position can cause our carotid arteries to have a kink in them. Or how when we sit all day, blood flow to our lower body is restricted. If you think of our blood vessels like a garden hose, where if there are no kinks in the hose you can have a smooth flow, you will understand this concept. Turbulent flow is linked to high blood pressure.

There's a lot more to Katy's health paradigm, that's just one of the highlights. Her other thing is getting blood flow out of the major arteries into every possible area of the body to reduce blood pressure in the abdominal aorta. Think of a traffic clogged highway. The more off-ramps you add off the highway, the less congestion.

[mspina]

Originally Posted by andtckrtoo

I think people should do what they love. If running marathons and ultras is what they love, then by all means, they should do it. If working out in moderation is what they love, by all means, they should do it. The only thing I would say is that you do have to get out there and move in a way that makes you happy. It's about health, but it's not ALL about health. It's about joy, a sense of accomplishment and a sense of being all that one can be. As Jimmy Buffett says, "I'd rather die while I'm living, then live while I'm dead."

I take all of these studies with a grain of salt. I think we're all different. I have a friend who is 55 and thinks nothing of going out and running 80 miles at once. He's built to run. I am not. It's all cool.

Yes!!!!!

[mspina]

Originally Posted by slysam

This article... I am not sure it really says anything. Most of the examples they give a people who died running marathons and one professional soccer player. And the news presenter who says he vigorously used the Rowing machine. The advice to stay away from the rowing machine--well, I can see why that gentleman might say that given his personal experience. But for the most part, rowing is non-impact, low injury risk and can be a s gentle, moderate or vigorous as the users chooses to make it. It is often classed with swimming as full body, low impact exercise. I think there probably is a good argument that can be made that "too much" exercise is unhealthy. I am not sure they really make it other than giving a few scary examples. I am not even sure the examples they give (other than maybe the tv presenter) were high intensity exercise. The athletes and marathoners, I would assume were doing a high quantity of training but probably not all hiit. I've never trained for a marathon, but don't they do at least some lower intensity, long duration cardio? I know marathoners are often used as a negative example by some of the people who promote hiit over longer duration, lower intensity cardio. (I don't think that is fair though).

It seems that usually when an athlete dies unexpectantly there is an underlying condition as Debbie mentioned. It is sad, but there seem to be a few every year. I am sure the pro teams must screen fairly carefully, but they don't catch everything. With the high school and college player examples of this, I wonder whether it might be that they don't really check the heart health of young, fit people very well. They might be a good example of why hiit is an issue, but more information needs to be shared to really make that case. Is it their vulnerability? Is it the mix of competititive adrenalin on top of exercise? How have they been training? Were performance enhancers involved in any way? Were they allowed enough recovery? Etc.

The study on running more than 20 miles a week is interesting, I've seen that before but am not really sure how to apply that to non-running fitness activity.

Most (not all) marathoners do very little, if any, speedwork.

I personally can't stand articles like this. There is NO magic bullet, including moderation. We will all die someday. Some of us will be very old and gray, some of us will go "before our time." It's likely that we can't do much to change where we are going to fall on that spectrum. All I know is that while I'm still living, I'm going to be living. If that means I'm going to die a few years early because I happen to enjoy running hard (and often), cycling hard (and often), etc., well then, so be it.

[cataddict]

Originally Posted by mspina

Most (not all) marathoners do very little, if any, speedwork.

I personally can't stand articles like this. There is NO magic bullet, including moderation. We will all die someday. Some of us will be very old and gray, some of us will go "before our time." It's likely that we can't do much to change where we are going to fall on that spectrum. All I know is that while I'm still living, I'm going to be living. If that means I'm going to die a few years early because I happen to enjoy running hard (and often), cycling hard (and often), etc., well then, so be it.

ITA. Nothing against the authors in general, but sometimes these articles are used as an excuse not to exercise at all, sometimes they scare people into not doing what they love and what feels good to them. There is no "one size fits all." None of us knows how much time we have, and the inevitable happens regardless.

[eyefit]

Originally Posted by cataddict

ita. Nothing against the authors in general, but sometimes these articles are used as an excuse not to exercise at all, sometimes they scare people into not doing what they love and what feels good to them. There is no "one size fits all." none of us knows how much time we have, and the inevitable happens regardless.

+1