In the research I've been looking at, one of the points left unclear to me is how much is too much. In certain of the studies, the subjects are elite road cyclist, ultra-runners, or elite nordic ski racers. In others, the subjects are referred to as "long-time endurance exercisers" which is, to me, a bit opaque, though contextually I take to mean on a par with "recreational" marathon runners.
However, the points which keep coming back to me are the chronicity of the activity (how many years a person has been performing this type of activity) and the findings associated with chronic systemic inflammation (a systemic "stress response") marked by elevated levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, both of which are known markers of cardiac disease/dysfunction. Some researchers are finding they may be predictive of cardiac disease. To me, this suggests that, as with so many things, and as Patrick in Vt noted, the key is balance and not just in exercise but in Life. My patients and clients who find themselves under high levels of stress at times (physical or psycho-emotional) are encouraged to back off their exercise programs until the stressors are reduced (think accountants around tax-time) since the body doesn't differentiate "good stress" (exercise is good for me!) from "bad stress" (gawd, I hate my job!). Cheers! lyle On 26 January 2012 12:14, jimD <[email protected]> wrote: > Many of my non bicycler friends think that riding 25 miles is Xtreme. > > It's a strange thing that as a country we have increasing rates of obesity > and great fascination with > Xtreme physical events. > > Do I recall correctly that there is/was a tv show having something to > do with Xtreme food or eating? > > Xtremely yours, > JimD > > On Jan 26, 2012, at 8:52 AM, robert zeidler wrote: > > Cycling, while I love as much as any activety, and certainly more than > work, is only one of the things I want to do in life. > > On Thursday, January 26, 2012, Patrick in VT <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Jan 26, 10:42 am, robert zeidler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Just a matter if time until we have extreme bowling. > > > > Another good point. What is driving people to the "extreme," > > especially amateur athletes? Of course, it's all relative - but I > > think for many amateur/recreational athletes, once the sense of > > accomplishment that came from completing an endurance event (let's say > > a marathon) becomes stale or commonplace (now that it is fairly common > > to see people walking large parts of marathons), they want to push > > harder for a PR or go farther to regain that sense of accomplishment. > > I have no evidence of this, but the current boom with triathlon and > > "extreme" (in the Mt. Dew/X-games sense of the word) endurance events, > > like the Tough Mudder, seem to be a direct result of events like a > > marathon becoming too average. there's no cachet to it anymore. so > > they go bigger, and that's a slippery slope. it's really pretty ego- > > centric. > > > > like most things, i think there's a healthy balance. it's good to > > have goals. challenge ourselves a little, or even a lot. competing, > > even at the recreational/amateur level, can be a very motivating, > > healthy experience for people of all ages. I also think there is a > > misconception about "training" - the athlete the exercises with the > > intent to compete can be said to "train," but it's just exercise. in > > other words, anybody who enjoys doing any kind of aerobic exercise for > > more than 30mins is training. we can't go out and enjoy a couple > > hours on our favorite roads without maintaining some aerobic > > fitness. and anybody who wants to improve their fitness - maybe be a > > little stronger on the hills or turn a 15mile ride into a 30mile ride > > - is training. competitive athletes just exercise a little > > differently. and i bet a lot people would be surprised at what a > > structured "training" program looks for a competitive amateur > > cyclist .. .. it's not killing yourself everyday or working so hard > > that you want to throw up. far from it. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- lyle f bogart dpt 156 bradford rd wiscasset, me 04578 207.882.6494 206.794.6937 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
