I love running. I was a sprinter in high school, but I also love to run long distances a few times a week. Running is something I could never give up, and it is my favorite type of exercise. Not only do I like the easy weight loss benefits that running gives (after all, running is the quickest and most efficient type of cardio for losing weight) but I also love the confidence, muscle tone, and mental/emotional benefits that running gives. So when I started to have knee and hip problems from running at the early age of 19, you could understand my dismay. So as much as running is beneficial to your health, is running also bad for your joints and heart?

fenwicktrack.com 

Studying the pros and cons of running can vary from person to person because sprinters are a lot different than people who run very high mileage for a very long time every day. From this study, it shows that avid marathon runners “may be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, and large-artery wall stiffening,” wrote lead study author Dr. Peter Schnohr of Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg Hospital. Missouri Medicine says that marathon runners have increased artery plaque, which can cause a heart attack or stroke. You wouldn’t expect this from such fit people, and more from people who lead sedentary lives, but there is a deposit of plaque that increases with strenuous exercise and excessive endurance training over time. The researchers studied around 1,000 avid marathon runners and around 4,000 non-runners for 12 years. They found that joggers as a whole live longer than non-joggers, however, if someone runs faster than 7 miles per hour for more than four hours per week, has a mortality rate that is “not statistically different from that of the sedentary group,” says the researchers at the Copenhagen Heart Study.

usuain-bolt-bejing.com

“Further studies are needed to better evaluate this controversial issue,” wrote the authors of the editorial. “Ideally, these studies will be well-controlled interventions because we certainly agree that the goal is not to unnecessarily frighten people who wish to participate in more strenuous exercise.” Three days a week running at an average pace for 1 to 2 hours is the ideal goal for weight loss and to not be too strenuous on your body, this study concludes. I agree with this statement. I think that one is able to control their weight and also lose weight if this schedule is followed with a proper diet.

The baton is passed between runners for Wheatland High School during the girls 3A 4 X 800 meter relay finals of the 2012 Wyoming Track and Field Championships at Harry Geldien Stadium in Casper Saturday afternoon. Michael Smith/Wyoming Tribune Eagle

So excessive endurance training causes an excess of plaque in marathon runner’s arteries over a long period of time. Is running bad for my joints, and am I guaranteed knee replacements later on in life if I continue to run now? Well, as we learned how to do with sugary drinks in class, you would have to weigh the risk and negative side effects to how much you love the thing that’s causing the damage. For me, I love running so much, that the negative effects will have to be pretty strong and convincing for me to stop my daily runs and move onto another type of exercise. 5 Experts answer: Is running bad for my knees? on LiveScience.com: “The knees take lots of pressure. The knees can take nice, happy cartilage and start to break it down,” says Dr. Stephen G. Rice, Director of Sports Medicine at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Once the cartilage wears down (from running) it can’t absorb the shock, which causes pain. The fact that I am also an Irish dancer, which takes an extreme toll on your knees and hips, means that my cartilage in my knees will most likely wear down earlier than normal. Also, the wearing down and strength of cartilage can be genetic, and my mother has severe knee and hip problems also. So the future of my joints doesn’t look so good for me. Dr. Jon Schriner, faculty member at Michigan State University says, “It’s well known that heavier people are at higher risk for arthritis. For every pound of weight a person carries – whether it’s in their body or they put it on in a pack – they have four pounds on the knee when running. In other words, if you weigh 100 pounds, there are 400 pounds of force on the knee with each foot strike.” This is something I have never heard before but is a good argument against running and is very convincing. Knees really take a beating when it comes to running and staying in shape, and it is an individual’s personal decision for their body if they want to participate in it or not. My opinion is that 1. I am not an avid marathon runner, only recreational runner at this point in my life, so I shouldn’t have heart problems later on in life from running or overextending myself. 2. Knee, hip, and ankle problems ~run~ in my family, so as I get older, I will continue to run, but I will continue to lessen and lessen the intensity of the running as I age, much like my mother does.

runnersworld.com

There are many different factors that go into how much damage a person causes their body when running, and it differs for each person. Weight, body structure, shoe selection, and running form all come into play.