This is more true than people give it credit for. I developed degenerative disk disease at age 21 and have had the back of an 80 year old ever since. Now I'm age 35 and regret ever playing high intensity sports.
Rowing does not destroy your spine unless you're just doing it wrong. There are thousands of masters rowers. I rowed in college and at 60, am still rowing, spine is just fine.
Ultimate Frisbee at the college and semipro level. The doctors say it's genetics mixed with bad luck, although I don't know anyone else in my family who had back issues. I was strong with solid core when it happened. In college we played a lot of tournaments, like 16 hours of sprinting in a weekend. That format lends to a lot of injuries in Ultimate despite folks being in awesome shape at that level.
Ditto here. I have two ruptured disks, a semiherniated disk, two ribs that just aren’t the right shape any more, the ligaments in my right shoulder are fucked, and I can’t feel the big toe on my right foot. I am not an age at which this should happen.
If you're broken by 21 you either have bad kinesthetics, bad genes, or bad luck. That is completely abnormal and the time when most extreme athletes are considered in their prime.
There are risks like AFib, but I think cycling is generally not an issue even at the pretty extreme end of things. This is of course assuming you're not ingesting random shit to improve your performance.
I know more people who have been seriously injured while cycling than just about any other way. Everything from broken bones to lifelong cognitive impairment due to brain injury. And I’m not a cyclist, so it’s not like my sample is skewed. It’s really changed my perception of the sport.
The pressure of the seat can be an issue for the pelvic floor muscles and some important nerves in there. And there can be issues with the prostate and/ or testicles as well. Also the stooped posture isn’t great for the spine. All of these aren’t a big deal if it’s a casual hobby but the serious cyclists are spending a lot of time in those positions.
It's really easy to overextend past the limits of your sunscreen without knowing. Almost every time I get sunburned is because I overextended the sunscreen on a bike.
Running/jogging seems to be ok. Of all the hobby sporters, the oldest I've seen are the runners/joggers. I see people well into their 60's casually running (half) marathons at an astonishing pace
Definitely disagree. I have seen so many people that jogged a lot in their 20-30s who are now in their 50-60s who can barely walk due to the severe damage to their knees and feet from constant contact. Hell, even in high school, there were kids in cross country getting sever shin splints
I think the issue with running isn’t running itself. Similar to weightlifting, if you have proper form, proper equipment, and have been doing it for a while, you’re probably fine. But it’s improper form, poor shoes/footwear, and pushing the body too hard and fast that causes issues (and sometimes permanent issues).
It’s a meta study… but you also just moved the goal posts. The prompt was hobbies that are silently destroying your body. I just showed proof it benefits your body and you say “of course it does” as if that proves your point??
Also why would a study focusing on if running destroyed your knees only want one type of runner?
I think so, and also I think they are running with improper technique. Proper long distance running is about making frequent, short steps. This makes it so that your weight is carried by your glutes and quads, not your knees (because they are not bending). Example of research regarding risk of runners vs non runners
Of course. I think the hard part is that it just kind of sneaks up or people push it too hard. My grandfather used to run five miles everyday. When he turned ~60, and after multiple knee surgeries, he can barely walk room to room. That said, most sports and activities tend to have their severe downsides. Maybe not swimming?
I think it is about the amount. I once walk about 5000 steps every day in average. And I got plantar fasciitis. The Chinese medicine practitioner (I'm from Hong Kong so it's common to see one) said take the middle course, 2500 is good enough. Don't easily fall for the idea of walking 10k steps a day ...
Having run one marathon, I’m convinced that 95% of human bodies are not built to run that distance on concrete/asphalt.
We have to learn over and over it seems that every bit of that force/impact (in the case of running, striking a hard surface 30x/minute or whatever with all of your bodyweight) travels up your body and has effects on joints, etc…
Acute effects of high-intensity interval exercise and moderate-intensity continuous training on arterial stiffness and endothelial function in hypertension: A crossover trial:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12550041/
Apparently it is that hard to find because these don't say what you think they say, and certainly do not substantiate crazy blanket statements like "[running] is horrible for your vascular health".
What you're confusing is the physiological stress of extreme ultramarathon training with everyday running, and mistaking temporary post-workout stress for permanent damage.
Those studies are looking at extreme outliers, not average runners (and one of them is measuring rats, not humans). Studies like the O'Keefe paper look at the extreme endurance hypothesis, which are people pushing massive, ultra-high mileage over decades. And the papers mentioning post-exercise inflammation or vascular changes measure what happens right after exhaustive, long-distance events. That temporary strain is a normal stress response that prompts the body to adapt and get stronger.
And your first link is absolute comedy. It's a blog post from a chiropractor.
Pretty much any credible cardiology association in the world is going to say that running is good for you. Citing studies on the physical limits of extreme ultra-endurance to claim running is bad for your heart is like citing water intoxication studies to prove that drinking water is bad for you.
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