Can Rowing Kill You?

[gregsmith01748]

There is an interesting article in this month's Runner's World Magazine.

Here's a link: http://www.runnersworld.com/heart/can-r ... harebutton

The article references more academic work that was presented at a conference in Boston earlier this year. I went and watched one of the sessions, some of it was way above my head, but it was an interesting, and sobering, look at the positive and negative effects of large doses of vigorous exercises.

The good thing about this article is that it generally refutes some of the crappy research that was done that suggested that a little exercise was good for you, but higher doses of it were as bad as, or worse than, not exercising at all. Further research has indicated that a little exercise is good, and more is better, but at very high doses, the positive health effects flatten out.

Further there are some areas that require more research.
- People with long histories of high level endurance training have a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation.
- People with long histories of high level endurance training are not more likely to have a cardiac "event", but these events seem to be more fatal than those suffered by non-exercisers

One theory proposed is that going really hard and pushing toward your maxHR on a regular basis can cause a progressive accumulation of scarring and plaque.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I thought I would post it here for others to take a look at and share their opinions.

[jackarabit]

The Fixx is always in. Interesting that we now grade atherosclerotic plaques by density and structural integrity. Jog without clog. Tufplack now available in gell or capsule at a heart-friendly supplement and headshop near you.

[Gammmmo]

This comes up periodically on all sorts of endurance sports oriented forums. My view is the risks are small and are more than outweighed by the guaranteed benefits e.g. lower body fat level, increased insulin sentsitivity, better mental health, stronger cardio system etc. Sooner or later we all check out....you could do far worse than have endurance sports as one of the corner stones of your life. Yes, there probably is some sort of risk, but so what? One thing to be aware of is if you do one single sport to excess it will develop your body in certain undersirable ways. You do need, and especially so as we age, a bit of balance. For example, running is hard on the joints and gets people really skinny....counter with weight training. Last year when I was doing v well at cycling I was effortlessly 65kg at 5'11" but I was weak e.g. I was always susceptible to injury especially in the upper body. That's not healthy IMO.

[gregsmith01748]

I agree the benefits of exercising outweigh the risks. I guess what I am wondering is if I am too extreme in the training that I am doing?

Is it better to limit volume and intensity within some parameters to avoid the downside? I really don't know. My concern about pulling back is that it would be boring and I would lose the massively motivating factor of trying to get faster and win races.

On the other hand, my wife would be pretty pissed if I killed myself with a hard interval session.

[Gammmmo]

I guess what I am wondering is if I am too extreme in the training that I am doing?

How many hours a week do you train, and how is that broken down e.g. low intensity, intervals, weights, cross-training etc?

[gregsmith01748]

I train 6 sessions per week, roughly 7 to 8 hours. Between 80 and 100km.

Roughly 70% is low intensity, endurance work, drills, warmups and cool downs
About 30% is high intensity sprints, intervals, and threshold work.

More than the volume, the thing I wonder about is the intensity of my high intensity work. I routinely finish these sessions above 95% of my HRR. I wonder if I should cap the sessions at a lower maximum heart rate to avoid accumulated damage.

[hjs]

I agree the benefits of exercising outweigh the risks. I guess what I am wondering is if I am too extreme in the training that I am doing?

Is it better to limit volume and intensity within some parameters to avoid the downside? I really don't know. My concern about pulling back is that it would be boring and I would lose the massively motivating factor of trying to get faster and win races.

On the other hand, my wife would be pretty pissed if I killed myself with a hard interval session.

Its not one hard session, its the accumulation of all the work.

A bit of reference, tour the france cyclists, on average reach a higher age compared to the population. If there is any group who do a lot of hard work...
Point here is though, TdF cyclist are not average people, the are proberly fitter/stronger to begin with.

Other point, plenty of people who train a good bit, don,t eat well, the training keeps weight roughly in check, but underlying trouble adds up...

Just a few thoughts

[Gammmmo]

Ok so lets say 7.5hrs week = 450mins. 30% of 450mins is 2hrs 15mins. So are you saying you spend 2hrs 15mins a week at threshold HR or above? If so, I would say that is quite alot if habitual rather then periodized for when you need the "tune up". I'm assuming your max fitness has largely hit a plateau anyway as I get the impression you've been doing rowing a while? Or are you still making gains?

[gregsmith01748]

I just looked through my recent history. Most weeks I am doing about 70' to 120'' of HIT, so less than 30%.

In answer to Henry's question. I have gotten to the point where I need to tilt my training in certain directions to improve on past performance on the erg. Last year, I managed to improve most of my middle distance PBs, but I never managed to get it together to challenge my 2K PB. And last OTW season I made a lot of improvement over the prior year. I am definitely on the flat part of the plateau. The biggest thing I could do to get faster would be to change my diet and lose 20 pounds, but I lack the commitment to do that.

[Carl Watts]

You don't need any research to tell you that too much of anything will kill you.

I would say however going from from the couch or zero exercise to suddenly doing something incredibly strenuous that your body is simply not used to is whats going to kill you.

If you build up over time you become accustomed to the feedback your body is giving you and you can balance the gains and rest without overdoing it. Your body also adapts to take more punishment so you can take it to the limit occasionally and punch out a PB without you literally dying in the process.

We have lost a few rowers on this forum over the years who were at the top of their game, but who is to say without the rowing they would not have died 5 years earlier anyway ?

The positives out way the negatives, I look at the mess others are in approaching the age of 50 I feel lucky I have been rowing my ass off for the last 8 years.

[hjs]

I just looked through my recent history. Most weeks I am doing about 70' to 120'' of HIT, so less than 30%.

In answer to Henry's question. I have gotten to the point where I need to tilt my training in certain directions to improve on past performance on the erg. Last year, I managed to improve most of my middle distance PBs, but I never managed to get it together to challenge my 2K PB. And last OTW season I made a lot of improvement over the prior year. I am definitely on the flat part of the plateau. The biggest thing I could do to get faster would be to change my diet and lose 20 pounds, but I lack the commitment to do that.

Thats also a point, we like to think and maybe plenty of people think we make independent decicions, but lots we do / don,t we can,t change really.

If you think about, look at people who you know for a long time. Did they change? Of are they who they are. The same goes for ourselves, not easy to look objectively at yourself. But for me, if I was my own coach, which I am , but I mean just trainer/coach from a guy like me, I would let him do some things differently.

To really change, you need a strong mind and a real reason. One thing that can help/ or just the opposite. Envirioment, people around you. Simply put, find the right tribe. People with "good" habits pull us up, and down the other way around.

The last few years, I developed a habbit, when I meet a health professional, certainly say above 40, the first thing I do, is look how healthy they come accross. If not so, no matter whay say, I will have a hard time taking them seriously.

[Gammmmo]

Some disjointed thoughts...

I think when you get into your 40s and 50s, you certainly notice the massive discrepency in how fit/healthy people are. Your 20s and early 30s can be more forgiving but lifetstyle catches up with you eventually. Here in the UK, it's not that hard to get your GP to give you a free and basic electro-cardiogram (I had one). If you can get an echo cardiogram even better. Another thing...heart problems have also been linked to excessive volume of exercise e.g. Ironman triathlon training has become v popular with those of all ages, and not just HIT. We don't really hear much about legions of people dropping down dead from that do we? I think there is some risk but if it were v prevelant we'd know about it by now.

[gooseflight]

Rowing [too much] might kill you. But then so might a bunch of other things. Who knows what's waiting around the corner to smack us in the face.

Our longevity or otherwise is determined by our genes, lifestyle choices and luck. I think it's nigh on impossible to micromanage our lives to a point where the possibility of an early exit is eliminated.

In the here and now the benefits of being physically fit as we get older far out way any disadvantages.

[Anth_F]

You don't need any research to tell you that too much of anything will kill you.

I would say however going from from the couch or zero exercise to suddenly doing something incredibly strenuous that your body is simply not used to is whats going to kill you.

If you build up over time you become accustomed to the feedback your body is giving you and you can balance the gains and rest without overdoing it. Your body also adapts to take more punishment so you can take it to the limit occasionally and punch out a PB without you literally dying in the process.

We have lost a few rowers on this forum over the years who were at the top of their game, but who is to say without the rowing they would not have died 5 years earlier anyway ?

The positives out way the negatives, I look at the mess others are in approaching the age of 50 I feel lucky I have been rowing my ass off for the last 8 years.

I like what you had to say here, Carl. Lots put into prospective! Like mentioned, too much of many other things can kill you. Drink, drugs, over eating, eating crap, to name just a few things. Hell, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow... or fall down some stairs and break your neck ffs... common sense plays a big role, as does your body letting you know when you need to take a time out...

[Citroen]

Ultimately just breathing will kill you, when you finally die of heart failure (which is the usual reason for everyone dying).