Exercise is like a drug

This is very interesting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/3259e81b-dc89-477e-ad80-793b06972b16

I do both short and sometimes very long runs (5+ hours) and I can absolutely vouch for what they describe in the article.

After my last long run I felt a quite high for 24 hours afterwards and I can't wait to do the next one.

This is spot on.

Although like all drugs it can become addictive and totally consume you which is not such a good thing.

I notice particularly ultra runners seem to be very obsessive with huge amounts of training which must have an effect on other areas of their life and frankly some of them have that gaunt unhealthy look to them.

I also have read many ex alcoholics and drug abuses get addicted to excercise in effect trading one addiction for another.

I have quite an obsessive personality and love to run but in the past this has lead to over training feeling constantly tired and injury so I try and keep it in check now.

Having said all that with all the toxic chemicals you can become addicted too I think exercise is certainly more healthy!

Excessive exercise I'm certain will lead to a much shorter life.

I play sport,most tennis and windsurfing daily for an hour or two nearly 7 days per week.

That's at the upper limit.

Running on the pavement is not healthy for your legs and joints.

Look at football players who have to run nearly everyday - they start to lose their legs around late 20's.

Moderation is the key for longevity.

If exercise is a drug then just say no!

I used to think running was bad for you but I think it's more about how much you run and whether you stretch and strengthen your leg muscles.

Running through pain, increasing mileage to fast and not strengthening your core are all classic mistakes runner make which end in injury.

But mainly as you say moderation is the key.

Could be very true

Excessive exercise I'm certain will lead to a much shorter life.

 

I play sport,most tennis and windsurfing daily for an hour or two nearly 7 days per week.

 

That's at the upper limit.

 

Running on the pavement is not healthy for your legs and joints.

 

Look at football players who have to run nearly everyday - they start to lose their legs around late 20's.

 

Moderation is the key for longevity.

I've done a bit of research on this. Football does cause knee problems through twisting the knee etc. Running does not, providing there is no pre-existing knee injury that affects the alignment of the joint. It's a high impact exercise so you need to build up distances slowly and have rest days. The biggest cause of knee osteoarthritis is being overweight and inactive

Excessive exercise I'm certain will lead to a much shorter life.

It's highly unlikely that anyone who isn't a professional athlete is coming anywhere near "excessive".

Professional athletes are not known for dying young compared to everyone else, and I think we can bet that they're doing a hell of a lot more than you or me.

---------- Post added 21-10-2016 at 16:02 ----------

And why look at football players for running, and not runners? How old is Mo Farah now? 33 and his legs seem okay...

I'm doing it wrong then. I do it and after I've done I just feel hot sweaty and glad it's stopped.

After training madly for 43 years I am having problems with a calf injury which has meant I haven't run for almost 12 months now. I've paid a fortune for Phyisiotherapy and finally may be getting somewhere at last, not doing cardio training is soul destroying.

I'm not that much of a runner actually but I can't even do circuit training which I love.

---------- Post added 29-12-2016 at 06:37 ----------

Any suggestions ?

Cheers

It's highly unlikely that anyone who isn't a professional athlete is coming anywhere near "excessive".

Professional athletes are not known for dying young compared to everyone else, and I think we can bet that they're doing a hell of a lot more than you or me.

 

---------- Post added 21-10-2016 at 16:02 ----------

 

And why look at football players for running, and not runners? How old is Mo Farah now? 33 and his legs seem okay...

Typically Mo will run about 135 miles every single week as part of his training routine, not bad at all for a 33 year old, mind you he has millions of pounds worth of physio's, coaches and dieticians with many years at the top of their game to help him.

Makes it clear that running on pavement is not going to leave us all with non functioning legs by our late 20's.