Do Endurance Athletes Have a Healthier Heart?

Runners are More Vulnerable to Heart Problems

Walking, running and jogging are good for health. Do we all agree on this fact or not? But, what if I told you that running marathons for prolonged years can cause damage to your heart? Would that not displease you?

A new study has proposed the fact that while prolonged years of endurance training causes no harm to a runners’ heart, it causes no good either. During the 1970s and 80s, people believed endurance exercise was the exit gate to health problems, marathon running and a healthy diet was good enough to keep runners far away from atherosclerosis or plague in the arteries.

But, the death and health issues of famous athletes made scientists and researchers revisit their theory. Certain studies in recent times put forth the shocking fact that hearts of male endurance athletes are more prone to plaques or scarring (indicator of heart problems) compared to the hearts of less active men in the same age group.

Certain other studies reveal the fact that, even though male endurance athletes might be subjected to heart problems such as atherosclerosis, the dangers, consequences and intensity of the problem is quite subtle compared to heart problems faced by other less active individuals in the same age group.

The new study involved 50 runners who had completed more than 3500 marathons with each runner having run anywhere between 27 to 171 of the races. All these runners were experienced athletes with at least 26 years of experience and some of them having as much as 50 years of experience. While most of them were in a healthy weight range, some of them were termed to be overweight depending on their body mass index. Most of them ran 48 kilometers or more every week.

If you are an endurance athlete interested in becoming proficient in the sports field with dietary modifications, please get in touch with sports nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com to plan a healthy diet suiting your needs.