You may think that running is a cheap efficient way to stay in shape. It’s cardio that you can do for free, without dealing with pricy gym memberships. Running is an exercise which is painful, tedious, antisocial, and not to mention boring. The long term risks involved with this high impact exercise include damage to joints, arthritis, and sciatica. Long distance marathon runners also experience headaches, toenail loss, existential dread, and according to a recent study, heart attacks.
Runners believe that they are impervious to heart disease as a result of their cardiovascular rituals. But actually, running can cause heart attacks in persons who would have otherwise been free of catastrophic cardiac events.
1. Long Distance Running Can Lead to Heart Disease
Habitual runners have a tendency to believe that their exercise rituals allow them to eat whatever they want. But actually, this misconception leads to many overcompensated unhealthy habits. Several growing medical cases are now proving that you can’t simply “run it off” when it comes to your heart health. Sure, running may prevent heart disease at first, but it can also ultimately LEAD to heart disease
“My concern is for people who exercise thinking ‘more is better,’ and that marathon running will provide ultimate protection against heart disease,” Siegel said. “In fact, it can set off a cascade of events that may transiently increase the risk for acute cardiac events.”
Source: Active.com
"A study published in the current edition of Missouri Medicine found that 50 men who had run at least one marathon a year for 25 years had higher levels of coronary-artery plaque than a control group of sedentary men. A British Medical Journal study published this year compared the carotid arteries of 42 Boston Marathon qualifiers with their much-less active spouses. “We hypothesized that the runners would have a more favourable atherosclerotic risk profile,” says the article. As it turned out, that hypothesis was wrong. A small body of research suggests that heart problems may arise not in spite of extreme-endurance exercise but because of it. That has led some cardiologists to theorize that, beyond a certain point, exercise stops preventing and starts causing heart disease. “Studies support a potential increased risk of coronary artery disease, myocardial fibrosis and sudden cardiac death in marathoners,” Peter McCullough, a Baylor University cardiologist, wrote as lead author of an editorial in the current Missouri Medicine."
Source: WSJ
2. Running Shortens Life Span
What may appear to be a simple way to get in shape can have devastating consequences. Another study claims that too much running is also tied to shorter lifespan.
“A number of studies have suggested that a “moderate” running regimen — a total of two to three hours per week, according to one expert — appears best for longevity, refuting the typical “more is better” mantra for physical activity.
The researchers behind the newest study on the issue say people who get either no exercise or high-mileage runners both tend to have shorter lifespans than moderate runners. But the reasons why remain unclear, they added.
The new study seems to rule out cardiac risk or the use of certain medications as factors. Our study didn’t find any differences that could explain these longevity differences,” said Dr. Martin Matsumura, co-director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pa.”
Source: Healthday
3. Running is as Chemically Addictive as Drugs
The mythical “runners high” has factual scientific evidence according to German neuroscientists. The act of running releases endorphins in the brain, giving the runner that “high” feeling. For decades, many regarded this claim as something runners invented for whatever underlying reason. Endorphins your body’s natural opiates: “feel good” receptors produced by the central nervous system and pituitary gland.
“For athletes, the study offers a sort of vindication that runner’s high is not just a New Agey excuse for their claims of feelinggood after a hard workout.”
Source: NY Times
4. Running Can Worsen Self Image
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a crippling obsessive mental disorder where persons have a completely distorted view of their own body. Muscle Dysmorphia, an unrecognized form of this disorder involves one’s obsessive preoccupation with exercise. These runners run to fill a void that can never be filled due the damaging affects of an unrealistic self image. The issue may be dysmorphia, or some combination of other disordered attitudes towards food that torture the runner with unrealistic exercise rituals.
“Results indicated that 1.1% of the females met DSM-IV criteria for bulimia nervosa versus 0% for males. None of the student athletes met DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa. 9.2% of the females were identified as having clinically significant problems with bulimia versus .01% of the males. 2.85% of the females were identified as having a clinically significant problem with anorexia nervosa versus 0% for males. 10.85% of the females reported binge eating on a weekly or greater basis versus 13.02% of the males 5.52% of the females reported purging behavior (vomiting, laxatives, diuretics) on a weekly or greater basis versus 2.04% for the males.”
Source: NCBI
5. Toenails Fall Off
Due to the high impact nature of the exercise and constant friction between the toenails, toe, and sneaker, an estimated 14% of runners suffer with loss of toenail. The other 86% might be lucky enough to keep their toes, but are often left with bruising and unsightly nails. This little piggy went to market, this little piggy went home, this little piggy had roast beef, and this little piggy had none. And this little piggy ran a 25 mile marathon and lost all of his nail.
“According to a 2004 review article by E.A. Mailler and B.B. Adams, the cause of toenail injuries during running is rooted in the repeated impacts that occur with each step. After the initial impact with the ground, there is a brief moment where your shoe has come to a stop but your foot inside of it has not. Your foot slides forward, usually only by a small amount, but this causes your toenails to take the brunt of the impact with the toebox of your shoe. Additional stress is applied to your toenails when you push off from the ground, as your toes “claw” at the ground to gain additional propulsion.”
Source: Runnersconnect
6. Running Causes Back Problems and Sciatica
This high impact exercise harms virtually your entire body, including your back. The movement associated with running can cause damage to the discs in the spine and can also cause strains and lower back pain.
“Lower back pain comes in many different varieties, the most benign of which is muscular strains and pains. It is characterized by lower back muscle spasm and pain that is centralized in the lower back. This type of pain does not travel into the buttock or legs (radiating pain is known as sciatica, or radiculopathy)."
Source: Spine-health
Sciatica is a real pain. The legs undergo absolute torture to allow you to run. This brutal high impact torture on your legs can result in the pain of Sciatica.
“The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that originates in the lower back and travels through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg. Sciatica (pronounced sigh-at-ih-kah) is not a medical diagnosis in and of itself – it is a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Sciatica (pronounced sigh-at-ih-kah) is not a medical diagnosis in and of itself – it is a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Sciatica is often characterized by one or more of the following symptoms:
Constant pain in only one side of the buttock or leg (rarely can occur in both legs) Pain that is worse when sitting Burning or tingling down the leg (vs. a dull ache) Weakness, numbness or difficulty moving the leg or foot A sharp pain that may make it difficult to stand up or to walk
Sciatic pain can vary from infrequent and irritating to constant and incapacitating. Specific sciatica symptoms also vary widely in type, location and severity, depending upon the condition causing the sciatica (such as a lumbar herniated disc).”
Source: Spine-health
Running marathons is as harmful to your heart as a daily diet of cheeseburgers. Why run when you could sit around all day eating cheeseburgers?
So if you’re reading this from the comfort of your own couch, keep up the good work. Unless you want a heart attack, busted toenails, and a new addiction, maybe you should try power walking. Power walking: it’s not just for grandma anymore.
