Don't blame running.Running has never been shown to cause osteoarthritic joint changes or to cause spinal disk degeneration degeneration /de·gen·er·a·tion/ (de-jen?er-a´shun) deterioration; change from a higher to a lower form, especially change of tissue to a lower or less functionally active form. , which is reassuring to the millions of us who run. Yet some experts warn that this may, in fact, be an aberration in the research due to the "healthy runner effect." Runners who remain injury-free continue to run, demonstrating the resiliency of those healthy runners, not the harmlessness of running per se. Here's a study that suggests, in fact, that long-term recreational running does not cause disk degeneration. This study specifically looked at disk degeneration among identical twins identical twins pl.n. Twins derived from the same fertilized ovum that at an early stage of development becomes separated into independently growing cell aggregations, giving rise to two individuals of the same sex, identical genetic makeup, and whose exercise histories were different. Identical twins with different lifestyles provide the perfect resource for answering cause and effect questions because you can evaluate the effect of something on genetically identical individuals--studies are automatically controlled for all genetic variables. The researchers studied 22 pairs of identical male twins whose lifetime endurance sports activity were dissimilar. The exercisers (running and cross-country skiing cross-country skiing Skiing in open country over rolling, hilly terrain. It originated in Scandinavia as a means of travel as well as recreation. The skies used are longer, narrower, and lighter than those used in Alpine skiing, and bindings allow more heel movement. ) had on average a history of exercising four times a week for about 24 years. Non-exercisers averaged only once a week exercise for most of their lives. Based on detailed interviews and magnetic resonance magnetic resonance, in physics and chemistry, phenomenon produced by simultaneously applying a steady magnetic field and electromagnetic radiation (usually radio waves) to a sample of atoms and then adjusting the frequency of the radiation and the strength of the images the researchers concluded that lifetime endurance sports caused neither beneficial nor harmful effects in the spine. It seems that your spine is either destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to hold up during a lifetime or not, and that regular running will neither protect nor damage it. For runners this is good news indeed and stands to contradict con·tra·dict v. con·tra·dict·ed, con·tra·dict·ing, con·tra·dicts v.tr. 1. To assert or express the opposite of (a statement). 2. To deny the statement of. See Synonyms at deny. those who believe that the repetitive impact of running must ultimately deteriorate the spine and leg joints. This is not a license to overtrain o·ver·train v. o·ver·trained, o·ver·train·ing, o·ver·trains Sports v.tr. To train too much: a coach who overtrained the athletes before the championship. v. , however. Running without adequate time for rest and recovery, increasing training load too fast, and running in worn out shoes, are all risk factors for injury. The take-home lesson here is that regular running is not going to hurt your spine and comes complete with a huge list of mental and physical benefits-overdoing it is, as usual, asking for trouble. (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Vol. 29, No. 10, pp. 1350-1356) |
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