In this post, we discuss why sprinting after 40 is a bad idea, unless you’ve been performing regular resistance training for a considerable period of time first.
Unsurprisingly, I meet a fair few people who’ve injured themselves competing in various sports, from golf to marathon running.
What might surprise you, however, are those who’ve injured themselves doing things that might seem relatively innocuous to the casual observer.
Top of that list? Dad’s races at school sports days. Seriously.
Injury inevitably ensues when you ask a bunch of middle-aged men to race each other over 100m in front of their kids.
That’s why I was particularly surprised to read this NY Times article on steps you can take in mid-life to increase longevity.
Number 1 on their list? Sprinting on a treadmill for 30 seconds.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m pro exercise. But take the average middle-aged person and ask them to run flat out on a treadmill for 30 seconds and you’re almost guaranteed to provoke injury. Why?
Force.
Forces at the ankle during running
This study modelled the forces at the ankle whilst running at a conservative 10mph.
Their conclusions are startling: ‘Peak resultant joint forces ranging from 9.0 to 13.3 times body weight and peak Achilles tendon forces ranging from 5.3 to 10.0 times body weight were predicted.’
And most pertinent to this post: ‘The highest tendon forces predicted exceeded those reported to cause damage to cadaver tendons in other studies.’
A lack of joined up thinking
This isn’t new information. And the recommendation to sprint in that NY Times article came from an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery.
It’s a striking example of a lack of joined up thinking. In the same NY Times piece, the value of resistance training came in at number 4 on their list.
So the very thing that might eventually help you do the first thing without injuring yourself, is cited way down the list after it. Very much putting the cart before the horse.
Summary
If you want to stimulate the cardiovascular system, you have to do it via the muscular system. Therefore it’s the muscular system that must be the primary consideration when deciding whether any exercise is a good idea or not.
As many participants in school sports day Dad races can attest, sprinting is probably not a good idea if the last time you did it was when you were at school yourself.
Unless, that is, you’ve spent time building the capacity first.
Progressive resistance training conditions the muscles and tendons to tolerate exactly the kind of forces sprinting demands. Build that capacity, and sprinting stops being a gamble and becomes just another thing your body is prepared for.
Which is precisely why resistance training shouldn’t be number 4 on the list. It’s what makes number 1 safe to do at all.
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