Give me fitness or give me Death!
OK if you insist you may have both.
The spring Cycling season in Europe is in full go mode. The first big races are in the news. I check one of my go-to web haunts and get hit in the face with a pop-up book ad.
The ad was for a book called the “Haywire Heart”.
https://www.velopress.com/books/the-haywire-heart/
Basically exercise can kill you.
The backstory I was familiar with. One of the co-authors was a master cycling racer. He raced bikes, built bikes and wrote about bikes. His name is Lennard ZInn. He almost died in a race. Then he wrote about this experience in his usual web magazine column. Another co-author did die in a cross country ski race but was revived. These were EXTREMELY fit competitive people and the cause of their heart problems was that they were extremely fit.
The main thrust of this is for ahem “older people.” But Twenty somethings have had it happen too.
The main issue is for extreme endurance sports. Hours and hours of sustained effort at a high level. Cycling, running, x-country skiing are the main things.
When I first read about Mr ZInn is was a slap back to reality. I had just about convinced myself that I could push and push and it was all good. His story was then brought close to home when this happened to a friend. Riding and working out makes your heart stronger. But it also can scar the heart and upset the delicate rhythm of it’s electrical systems. Too hard and it goes wonky.
So for those who believe “what does not kill you makes you stronger”, (Fredrick Neitche) should know that which makes you stronger may kill you. Push through the pain is advice from ignorant people. Be aware of what pain means.
THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO NOT EXERCISE! This is a warning to take care. Pain and discomfort are warnings. Head them.
This may be too complex a topic for the age of Trump and screaming slogans.
This is a very good reason to use a heart rate monitor. If you work out and know how fast your heart is supposed to be going then seeing it take off to new crazy hummingbird speeds that is a clear message to dial 911 or whatever the local emergency code is. I confess that this is my main defense. When I ride or am on the Green Monster I watch and record my heart rate constantly. I think I know what to look for.
So ready to take up cycling droogs?