Endurance Exercise and Longevity – BionicOldGuy inkeinspires

I have spoken in the past (here and here) of the concept of knowing if there is a point beyond which the exercise becomes too good. As I am always tempted to push the limits on this subject, I decided to ask Google Gemini Deep Research to study it for me: volume of endurance exercise, intensity and human longevity. He found this reportsummarized in This podcast derived from the report. It is an interesting update. In the past, some studies have seemed to show a “U” of longevity compared to the volume of exercise: the exercise reduces the mortality of all causes of causes, with the advantage increasing with more exercise, up to a certain point. After that, the risk of mortality increases again. This was not born in the meta-analyzes of the majority of studies. Instead, mortality all causes continues to drop, it doesn’t matter how much you do. But beyond a certain point, we are more at risk of developing certain cardiac anomalies like AFIB or the scars of the heart. This seems to be more likely for those who follow a lot of high intensity training.

So, if you are like me and you like a lot of endurance training, it is a good idea to follow a system like polarized training where most of your training is easy, with a training minority at higher intensity. Other recommendations are also given in the report As perhaps a cardiac screening to minimize the risk of cardiac anomalies. Because I had a replacement of heart valve in the past, I am under the current care of a cardiologist, and I am happy to be tested periodically.