490BC – Pheidippides, a messenger by trade, runs 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a Greek victory.  After delivering the message, he collapses and dies at the age of 40.

7/20/84 – Jim Fixx, author of “The Complete Book of Running”, drops dead of a heart attack at the age of 52.  Dr. Eleanor N. McQuillen, Vermont’s chief medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Mr. Fixx, said in an interview that all three of his coronary arteries were damaged by arteriosclerosis, the underlying cause of heart attacks.

3/19/04 – Brian Leigh Maxwell, an avid marathoner and founder of PowerBar dies of a heart attack at 51 years old. 

12/19/04 – Greg Marr, Editor of Silent Sports magazine and an avid runner, dies unexpectedly while skiing at Iola Winter Sports Center in Iola, Wisconsin. While skiing, Marr collapsed as the result of a heart attack. He was only 52 years old and in excellent physical condition.

Those are just a few of the many examples and those don’t include individuals who had heart attacks but did not die.  All of the aforementioned cases were of individuals in peak physical condition, with no genetic abnormality (e.g. enlarged heart) and were avid distance runners and marathoners.  None of these cases involved an out of shape individual who ran all out on a whim and suffered a heart attack.  How do seemingly “fit” individuals drop dead at a relatively young age?  The activity they thought was increasing their life span ultimately cut it short. 

Long Distance running can induce arrhythmia
 An arrhythmia is also known as an irregular heartbeat.  When a heart beats irregularly, it can either beat too slow (bradyarrhythmia – less than 50 beats per minute) or too fast (tachyarrhythmia – faster than 100 beats per minute).⁽¹⁾  “Athletes with no discernible danger can be susceptible to arrhythmias, especially during runs of 15 miles or more. On long runs you can become significantly dehydrated, leading to changes in the blood’s levels of potassium, magnesium, and calcium.  These chemicals play a vital role in starting and conducting electrical impulses in the heart.”⁽²⁾ An arrhythmia can lead to cardiac arrest and ultimately death.  Notice the key statement above (15 miles or more), we aren’t talking about a jog around the block.

Long distance running INCREASES coronary plaque buildup
Based on the multitude of treadmills at the average gym, the idea of jogging endlessly gives the impression that you are “getting in some cardio” and that “your heart will thank you”.  Two recent studies show that is NOT the case.  One study, administered at the West-German Heart Center Essen, focused on male marathoners age 50 and up.  Among the study’s findings, while the runners had lower than average cholesterol levels and better blood pressure, they had more measurable coronary calcium buildup or plaque than the general population.  In the study, German scientists scanned the hearts of 108 experienced, male distance runners in their 50s, 60s and 70s.  The runners had completed a minimum of 5 marathons in the previous 3 years.  When the researchers studied the runners’ scan results, they found that more than a third of the men showed evidence of significant calcification or plaque build-up in their heart arteries.  Several also had scarring of some of the tissue in their hearts.  The researchers stated, “In our study regular marathon running seems not to protect runners (from coronary artery disease).  In fact, we even cannot exclude the possibility that exercise to this degree has deleterious effects on coronary arteries.”⁽³⁾

A second study of 25 middle-aged male runners, each of whom had completed the Twin Cities Marathon annually for the past 25 consecutive years, demonstrated they had significantly greater mean volumes of coronary calcified plaque than did age-matched sedentary controls.  The lead researcher, Dr. Jonathan Schwartz said, “The bottom line here is just because you run a lot of marathons and you’re very active doesn’t mean you’re protected from coronary artery calcification.  Benefits to long-term, high-volume endurance training for overall health include favorable body mass index, heart rate, and lipid panel, but these may be counterbalanced by metabolic and mechanical factors that enhance coronary plaque growth.”⁽⁴⁾  Coronary plaque reduces blood flow which can result in a heart attack and if a piece breaks off, one may suffer a stroke.  Heart attacks and strokes usually result in various forms of irreparable damage and often result in death.

Long distance running increases the buildup of scar tissue in and around the heart
A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology⁽⁵⁾ examined the incidence of myocardial fibrosis (scar tissue in and around the heart) in veteran lifelong endurance athletes.  The study involved 12 veteran athletes ages 50-67, 20 age-matched controls (non-athletes) ages 52-69 and 17 younger endurance athletes ages 26-40.  50% of the veteran endurance athletes had scar tissue in and around their heart versus ZERO in the younger athletes and the non-athletes who were the same age.  As stated in the study, “The affected men were, in each case, those who’d trained the longest and hardest.  Spending more years exercising strenuously or completing more marathon or ultramarathon (>50 miles) races was, in this study, associated with a greater likelihood of heart damage.”⁽⁵⁾  Scar tissue is rigid and can cause the heart to beat irregularly and ultimately lead to heart failure.  A recent study in laboratory rats⁽⁶⁾, showed a link between certain kinds of prolonged exercise and heart damage.  For the study, published in the journal Circulation, scientists had young, healthy male rats run at an intense pace, day after day, for three months (10 years in human terms).  The training was designed to mimic many years of serious marathon training in humans.  The rats had begun the study with perfectly normal hearts.  At the end of the 3 months, heart scans showed that most of the rats had developed scarring and some structural changes, similar to the changes seen in the human endurance athletes.  A control group of unexercised rats had developed no such changes to their hearts.

I know what some of you are saying, “I am not running marathons for a living, I just want to do one!” OR “I have ran a marathon a few times, what’s the big deal?”  Did you know that the stress placed on your body after just one marathon can produce inflammation and negative effects that last for up to 3 months!!!  Dr. Eric Larose told the 2010 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, “…marathon running can damage your heart.  Fortunately the exercise-induced injury is reversible over time, but it could take up to three months to completely recover.”⁽⁷⁾

Marathoner vs Sprinter: which would you rather look like?

The fact of the matter is that our bodies were not meant to run long distances for long periods of time.  At the end of the day, we are animals.  Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel or observed animals before?  If you have then, you would notice that the vast majority of the time they are resting.  Whether it is your dog, your cat or the lion hanging out in the Serengeti in Africa, the vast majority of the time, they are relaxing.  When they do move to catch pray or avoid a predator, they sprint.  This activity does not happen often or for prolonged periods, it is only when necessary.  Their “exercise” involves short intense bursts not long slow movements such as jogging.

You don’t see him jogging for hours on end

The intent of this article is not to justify being lazy or sitting and doing nothing.  Most folks in America don’t have the problem of too much exercise, but rather too little.  What I don’t want to see is you wasting your time doing distance running when you can get better results in less time, all without damaging your heart.  The best part is that you can gain muscle AND burn fat rather than look like a skinny weakling!!!  Tune in next time to find out the cardio that you SHOULD be doing.

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References:

1) Robert J Bryg, MD. “Heart Disease and Abnormal Heart Rhythm (Arrhythmia)”, Published on 3/7/09, Accessed on 3/25/11. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-abnormal-heart-rhythm

2) Jennifer Pirtle. “The Heart of a Runner”, Runner’s World magazine. August 2004.

3) Breuckmann F, Möhlenkamp S, Nassenstein K, Lehmann N, Ladd S, Schmermund A, et al. “Myocardial late gadolinium enhancement: prevalence, pattern, and prognostic relevance in marathon runners”, Radiology. April 2009 251:50-57.

4) Schwartz JG, Merkel-Kraus S, Duval S, et al. “Does elite athleticism enhance or inhibit coronary artery plaque formation”. American College of Cardiology 2010 Scientific Sessions; March 16, 2010; Atlanta, GA.

5) Wilson MG, O’Hanlon R, Prasad S, Deighan A, Macmillan P, Oxborough D, et al.  “Diverse patterns of myocardial fibrosis in lifelong, veteran endurance athletes”, Journal of Applied Physiology. Published online 2/17/11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21330616

6) Begoña Benito, MD; Gemma Gay-Jordi, PhD; Anna Serrano-Mollar, PhD; Eduard Guasch, MD; Yanfen Shi, MD; Jean-Claude Tardif, MD, et al. “Cardiac Arrhythmogenic Remodeling in a Rat Model of Long-Term Intensive Exercise Training”, Circulation. 2011;123:13-22. Published online before print December 20, 2010.

7) Dr. Eric Larose. “Marathons damage the hearts of less fit runners for up to 3 months”, Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010; October 25, 2010; Montreal, Quebec.

A weight belt doesn’t have any magical powers, it is not a fashion statement and if you aren’t lifting more than your bodyweight and you are using good form then, don’t bother with a weight belt.  People walk around the gym like they just pinned Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania and they are pimping the Championship Belt.  I have seen people do sit ups with a weight belt on, YES, you read that right, SIT UPS!!!  If your back is so fragile that not wearing a weight belt will result in paralysis or an inability to stand then, you probably shouldn’t be exercising with weights in the first place.

"I need the belt back Hulk, I have a crazy set of sit-ups to do."

2) TOO Much CORE work
Don’t spend so much time doing ab work.

I see some individuals spending 30-50% of their entire workout doing abs.  WTF is wrong with these people???  The people who think training abs alone will give you great abs are the same people who think that eating fat makes you fat.  This is a case of “monkey see, monkey do” because if you walk into any commercial gym, you will see more ab devices than you can shake a stick at.  I guess the Squat Racks and Texas Power Bars must be on backorder J 

One time I did a Boot Camp and there were about a dozen stations with various exercises including: overhead presses, goblet squats, pushups, hip bridges, etc.  Afterwards one of the guys came up to me and said, “I thought that was good, but I would like more CORE work.”  Before I continue, let me tell you about this guy.  He is about 5 feet 5inches tall, probably weighs close to 200 LBS and has a beer belly that would make Homer Simpson proud. 

Me:  “Did any of those exercises work your CORE?” 

Beer Belly:  “Nope.” 

Me:  “Hmmmm…so, your CORE was not engaged when you did overhead presses, squats, pushups, etc….Actually, ALL of those worked your CORE!!!  The CORE may not have been the primary focus in each exercise, but it provided the stability your body needed to properly perform each exercise.  See the problem is that you have some fat blocking your CORE and all of the CORE work in the world isn’t going to show your abs.  You need to lose fat for that.  Losing fat is a function of conditioning and diet.  I would work on those before worrying about direct CORE work.”

Beer Belly:  [Blank Stare]

In this guy’s defense, the average individual needs to be better educated about diet and exercise; any professional in the Strength & Conditioning field will tell you that.  His education regarding the human body came from the advertisement of the fifty different ab devices that get paraded around on infomercials at 3AM.

This is NOT the secret to having visible abs

If and when you DO perform direct CORE work, do it RIGHT!!!  A reverse sit up (lie flat on back and bring your knees to your chest) only involves movement of the LOWER half of your body!!!  I can’t tell you how many people I see with their butt on a bench and they perform a quasi reverse sit up where their chest meets their knees in mid-air with both halves moving.  It looks like me trying to open and close a beach chair at the Jersey Shore!!!

If you are performing multi-joint compound exercises (i.e. Squat, Deadlift, etc.) then, you are working your abdominals.  This is not to say that you should never do any direct ab work.  There is a time and a place for doing some reverse sit-ups, hanging leg raise, sit-ups on a decline bench with a weight plate on your chest, etc., but these are SECONDARY or “assistance” exercises.  If your abs are the weak link preventing you from increasing your Deadlift or weak abs are causing you to lean forward or round your back in the middle of a squat then, that needs to be addressed, but abs are not an area that requires you to spend 20% or more of your training time on.  Your abdominals provide your body with stability in just about every other exercise that you perform so, they already receive a tremendous amount of attention.  If you can’t see your abs, focus more on tightening up your diet and do more conditioning work.

3) Inefficient Conditioning Methods
I love looking at the lost souls jogging on the treadmills with their potbellies, complete and total lack of muscle mass and faces that looks like the mask from Scream. 

“Jogging, one of life’s pleasures!”

I don’t know who started the movement to “get on a treadmill and jog for hours on end”, but if I ever meet them, I will smash a 45 LB plate over their head.  I don’t know about you, but the thought of jogging on a treadmill for a long period of time makes me want to go insane.  I am not going to get into a big diatribe about interval training being better for fat loss than jogging; that is for a different time.  My main focus is TIME.  I always want the best results in the fastest time possible.  I also get bored easily so, I can’t wrap my mind around jogging for 30-60 minutes.  When I want to get in some conditioning work, I either do Sled pushes / pulls or Complexes.

a) Sled Work
Anyone who has played football, especially on the offensive or defensive line, knows what it is like to push a sled.  The good news is that the sled work that I am referring to doesn’t involve you wearing pads in 90 degree heat with a Coach standing on the back saying that his mother can do better and she is in a wheelchair. 

There are various types of Sleds including the famous “Prowler” from EliteFTS, but really any sled which allows you to load it with weight plates will do.  Pushing or pulling a sled not only challenges your entire body, but it will ramp up your heart rate, get you breathing heavy and push you to the limit of your mental and physical ability.

“Push me, I dare you.” – Prowler

b) Complexes
I think the best description of complexes was given by Strength Coach Dan John: “A complex is a series of lifts back to back where you finish the reps of one lift before moving on to the next lift.  The barbell only leaves your hand or touches the floor after ALL of the lifts are completed.”  Complexes can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell.  I prefer to use a barbell. 

Complexes allow you to burn fat AND build muscle at the same time.  The key to setting up a complex is to ensure that the lifts logically follow one another in terms of body parts trained (i.e. don’t do 2 of the same parts in a row) and ensure that the weight is based on the weight you would use in the WEAKEST of the exercises (e.g. use the weight that you would shoulder press NOT the weight that you would Back Squat)

Performing Complexes is like doing interval training without running.  Similar to interval training, Complexes produce EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption).  EPOC is an increased rate of oxygen intake after performing very demanding or strenuous activity (e.g. interval training or complexes) to erase the oxygen debt and return the body back to where it was at rest before the exercise was performed.  EPOC increases the body’s demand for fuel so, fat stores are broken down and released into the blood, hence, EPOC = fat loss.

Here are a couple examples of complexes that you can try:

Complex #1:
Upright Row,
Snatch,
Back Squat,
Shoulder Press,
Bent-Over Row

Complex #2:
Deadlift,
Bent-Over Row,
Power Clean,
Front Squat,
Push Press,
Back Squat,
Upright Row,
Snatch

Perform 6-8 reps (depending on the weight) or do a pyramid (4-3-2-1-2-3-4) where you perform ALL exercises at a certain number of reps and then repeat (i.e. 4 reps of each exercise (Deadlift through Snatch) then 3 reps of each and so on)

Rest 60-90s and repeat.  It only takes about 8-10 minutes to be completely CRUSHED.

Sled Work and Complexes are more effective and efficient than jogging on a treadmill and they are both more challenging and fun too!

4) Routine does not match Goals or Ability level
Your routine (training regimen) is dependent upon your ability level and your goal.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum on this one.  It usually involves a very skinny person or a very overweight person.  They are doing body part splits like a Bodybuilder, yet, they cannot perform pushups, pull-ups or dips with their bodyweight using good form.

Ability level
Whenever I am dealing with someone for the first time, no matter what their condition or ability level, I always make sure that they can do basic bodyweight exercises with proper form.  How can you squat 300 LBS if you can’t do a deep (hams to calves) bodyweight squat with good form?  You always need to build a solid foundation.  Once you have a strong foundation and the basic movements are fundamentally sound then, you can start loading the exercise.

Goals
If someone wants to lose weight, jumping into a Bodybuilding routine with body part splits is not the most sensible way to accomplish that goal.  Frankly, even if someone wants to get huge, I wouldn’t start them out with a traditional Bodybuilding routine until they were very good with the basic compound movements:  Bench Press, Back Squat, Deadlift.  Those lifts give you the best bang for your buck and allow you to put on a good deal of lean mass very quickly.  Your goals should define your routine.  The “I want to be a FREAK” routine is different from the “I want to be lean and look good naked” routine.  Though there are some overlaps, each goal and the routine which will best accomplish that goal efficiently and effectively are different

Using a weight belt too often, doing way too much CORE work, jogging on a treadmill for conditioning and having the wrong routine are just a few of the common mistakes that I see on a daily basis at the gym.  Avoid the mistakes I mentioned above and follow the aforementioned advice and you will accomplish your goals more efficiently and effectively.

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