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Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

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Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#101

Post by odaymansour »

iklos89 wrote: post #100
greenspot wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You write... > Some people can handle 120 miles per week after you... > ran 80-90 miles per week [...] I'm really looking forward to knee surgery in October) Apologies for being a bit harsh but the cause-effect-relationship is crystal clear. Extensive running puts a tremendous strain on our knees. You don't need to be a doctor, scientist or professional runner to know this. And just 20-30 miles/week over a long perio…

> ... the cause-effect-relationship is crystal clear. That must have been one of the most ignorant statements I read on HN. > Just wait till you're older and then it's pay back time. Well guess what, I know 70-year-olds still running a sub 3h marathon.

Please avoid a harmful tone when replying here, there's no need for that :)

As for the 70 year-olds still running marathons, I've heard of plenty more 25 year-olds dying of heart attacks. Anecdotes are not enough here it seems.

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#102

Post by saiya-jin »

bjterry wrote: post #62
jmde wrote: post #17

The article frames the question as a sort of strawman in some ways. Rather than ask "is running good or bad for you?" you could ask "is an alternative form of exercise, that has fewer damaging side effects, better?" For example, would you be just as well off walking, skiing, or biking? My understanding is the answer to that is even less clear.

I don't know about that. From a pure physical health perspective (i.e. discounting convenience, cost and supposed mental health benefits), there are a bunch of exercises that are strictly superior to running. They provide all of the cardio benefits of running, but without the prevalence of joint injury when you crank up the time investment. Some good examples are swimming, biking, or using a rowing machine. I'm a big…

biking is one of the worst exercises out there. sure you save joints, but your back, neck and possibly erection will suffer instead. Got couple of colleagues/friends who have health issues exactly because of biking.

and if you do road biking, depending on location, you are at mercy of car drivers on narrow roads. even if 99,9% are good and paying attention all the time, sooner or later someone won't. if you do other types of biking, there are other safety issues.

by all means do it if that's your thing, but don't call it super healthy, or safe. take 2 steps back - most of us sit on our a__es all days, so you go and do sport where you... sit on your a__. right.

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#103

Post by nbschulze »

greenspot wrote: post #75
nbschulze wrote: post #15

I ran 80-90 miles per week while in college and continued running 20-30 per week for a couple of years after until my knee stopped cooperating (I'm really looking forward to knee surgery in October). I have experienced some of the described symptoms (irregular heartbeat and etc), but wouldn't have done much differently. Honestly, this article basically boils down to 'do what your body can handle'. People are differen…

You write... > Some people can handle 120 miles per week after you... > ran 80-90 miles per week [...] I'm really looking forward to knee surgery in October) Apologies for being a bit harsh but the cause-effect-relationship is crystal clear. Extensive running puts a tremendous strain on our knees. You don't need to be a doctor, scientist or professional runner to know this. And just 20-30 miles/week over a long perio…

I don't think you know anything about the cause and effect relationship considering you have no idea who I am let alone what is wrong with me knee.

I haven't been running like that since I was in college. I wore down cartilage in my knee while running through pain I had been having for a while. I wasn't taking care of myself the way I should have been. If you take the time and care to make sure you stay healthy, 20-30 miles a week is nothing. If your logic held than 'pay back time' should have happened for my peers a long time ago, they all ran more mileage than I did and some still run 100 plus miles per week. If there is some magic number of miles knees get, they would have hit it a long time ago. That is not how it works. People are different, bodies are different, you just need to make sure you take care of yourself and don't ignore the maintenance.

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#104

Post by nbschulze »

chongli wrote: post #64
nbschulze wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That kinda says what I'm saying, top marathoners/distance runners are of average height (around 5'7").

Average height for Japan, maybe, but not really anywhere in the Western world. Average height in the Netherlands is over 6 feet, for example.

Still not closer to 5 foot tall. I don't know how or why this is still an argument. Marathon runners are not 5' tall. That's tiny. And average height in the Netherlands is right at 6'.

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#105

Post by nadezhda18 »

WalterBright wrote: post #29
nadezhda18 wrote: post #3

it's good - as long as your leg joints do not tell you the opposite nd it's too bad when they do :(

I switched from "heel strike" to "ball of foot strike" when running. (Just tilt the front of your foot down.) It took a couple weeks to adjust. After a couple months, my chronic knee pain faded away, to be replaced by chronic pain in the knuckles of my big toes. Doing the ball strike puts an immediately noticeably less of an impact load on your knees/hips.

at some point in the beginning of the year, I did change my strike and it helped. I started leaning forward while running and it changed the strike to the forefoot one.

But recently I developed a new kind of pain... it happens when I bend my knees. The worse part it now hurts even if I cycle longer than 10 min! :(

I guess I will keep digging on this subject. Thanks for your advice anyway!

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#106

Post by nadezhda18 »

tallanvor wrote: post #91
nadezhda18 wrote: post #3

it's good - as long as your leg joints do not tell you the opposite nd it's too bad when they do :(

Try adding in regular strength training - doing squats properly can help immensely, and with a few other leg exercises, you might be surprised just how much of a difference it makes.

yeah I should definitely try that! I started doing burpees and realized I am very bad at squatting :(

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#107

Post by nadezhda18 »

brooklyndavs wrote: post #7
nadezhda18 wrote: post #3

it's good - as long as your leg joints do not tell you the opposite nd it's too bad when they do :(

There was a study a few years ago (posted below) that actually found running is fairly good for your joints as the stress encourages your body to build and repair cartilage. If you are personally having joint issues and you want to continue to run I encourage you not to give up. Try different shoes, have your gait analyzed, even see a physical therapist who specializes in running. I obviously don't know if you are in…

thanks for your advices!

I did not try to change the shoes or see a therapist. I also think I tried to run too often/much, like min 30 min every day :-|

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#108

Post by nadezhda18 »

maxerickson wrote: post #35
brooklyndavs wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a study a few years ago (posted below) that actually found running is fairly good for your joints as the stress encourages your body to build and repair cartilage. If you are personally having joint issues and you want to continue to run I encourage you not to give up. Try different shoes, have your gait analyzed, even see a physical therapist who specializes in running. I obviously don't know if you are in…

It's also a good idea to evaluate whether you are running too much. It can take a while to build up that cartilage.

It might have been the case... like 30 min minimum every day

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#109

Post by greenspot »

nbschulze wrote: post #103
greenspot wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You write... > Some people can handle 120 miles per week after you... > ran 80-90 miles per week [...] I'm really looking forward to knee surgery in October) Apologies for being a bit harsh but the cause-effect-relationship is crystal clear. Extensive running puts a tremendous strain on our knees. You don't need to be a doctor, scientist or professional runner to know this. And just 20-30 miles/week over a long perio…

I don't think you know anything about the cause and effect relationship considering you have no idea who I am let alone what is wrong with me knee. I haven't been running like that since I was in college. I wore down cartilage in my knee while running through pain I had been having for a while. I wasn't taking care of myself the way I should have been. If you take the time and care to make sure you stay healthy, 20-3…

> I don't think you know anything about the cause and effect relationship considering you have no idea who I am let alone what is wrong with me knee.

Why are you getting aggressive? You have your opinion, I have my opinion, no need to snap.

> People are different, bodies are different

Ok, I agree. But why do you then generalize yourself few sentences before and tell us that '20-30 miles a week is nothing' and treating everybody the same? I think, I was more differentiating, I said 20-30 miles/week for a long period is already too much for the majority—not for all.

> I wore down cartilage in my knee while running through pain I had been having for a while

Ok, doesn't really make your stance better. Who says that every other runner is so wise and stops running while having a pain? Maybe most of them do the same mistake like you did? Maybe they just want to win, just want to outperform other runners, just fear loosing or just want to prove themselves that they can run more than last week—all while slowly crushing their knees. And maybe it's the dynamics or game mechanics of running itself—it's not that easy to stop.

Sorry, but the cause-effect-relationship is getting even clearer with your last comment. Extensive running can get quickly dangerous and the problem is that the runner might realize this too late.

Re: Is Running Good or Bad for Your Health?

#110

Post by Pamar »

brownbat wrote: post #63
loeg wrote: post #52

Tl;dr > The health benefits of running short or long distances are so overwhelmingly positive that they swamp potential dangers.

An addendum to Bettridge's law: When headlines can't be answered "no," the most boring possible answer is correct.

I therefore suggest a corollary:

"When Battridge's law does not apply, you can safely answer the headline with It depends".

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