Is Exercise Bad for You?

ForkSnorter on 05/02/2023 - 10:26
Last edited 06/02/2023 - 15:28

Edit: due to all the sarcastic comments, I decided to add this opening comment as clarification:

Regular (or constant) activity is definitely good for you but maybe we don't really need to do dedicated, specialised exercises that increase the risk of injury, like jogging, long-distance cycling, and gym. Maybe just walking is sufficient to stay healthy.

Here is the original post:

Consider the following:

  1. My grandpa didn't exercise once in his life. The closest he got to exercising was walking to the letterbox to check the mail. He did this once every 2 days, and it was a major expedition for him. His favourite book was called "Exercise is bad for you", it was always lying around on the coffee table. He was enormously overweight for most of his life, yet lived to the age of 88.

  2. His wife, my grandmother, didn't even walk to the letterbox, and rarely left the house. She basically either potted around in the kitchen or sat on the sofa watching TV (not actually watching, just staring at it). In the last few years of her life, she had a glass of wine every night with dinner. She lived to the age of 93.

  3. I have numerous unhealed injuries which are the result of exercise or strenuous activity. These include bad knees, one bad hip, bad lower back, 2 bad shoulders, and 1 weak foot. As a result of these injuries, I have much less flexibility, mobility and strength than my friends and relatives of similar age, who have been much less active than me throughout their lives. They are now much more active than me, due to injuring themselves far fewer times than I have.

  4. My mother never engaged in regular exercise (no swimming, running or cycling or any sport) in her younger years, yet she is now extremely healthy and active for her age; she is far more flexible and mobile than me, and has never injured any of her joints.

  5. I'm seeing more and more studies finding that intensive exercises is correlated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease or heart attack/stroke.

Keep in mind, I've always loved to exercise, and it has always been important to me and made me feel amazing. But over the years, my ability to exercise has become more and more limited due to injuries caused by exercising.

Poll Options

  • 26
    Intensive exercise is good for you.
  • 607
    Frequent moderate exercise is good for you.
  • 44
    Occasional light exercise is good for you.
  • 12
    Exercise is not necessary for health.
  • 21
    Couch potato is the healthiest lifestyle.
Health & Beauty

Comments

  • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 07/02/2023 - 13:49
    -2

    Pay no attention to the sarcastic comments mate. I don't think a lot of these people know too much about health or excercise.

  • Drakesy on 07/02/2023 - 14:37

    So your scientific pool of 2 discounts scientific evidence for the contrary.

    What if they did excercise, could they of lived longer?
    And injury does not mean excercise is bad, it could just mean you're a uncoordinated person/just don't know your limits.

    I know the athletes that had repetitive injuries never liked to sit still for long enough to let it heal.

  • maximum on 07/02/2023 - 17:20

    I think the fact that you don't get injuries like tennis elbow or runners knee from reading books is a pretty good indication that exercise, is bad for you.

  • DiscoJango on 07/02/2023 - 21:23

    Straining too hard on your morning poo is bad for your muscles. Moderate to light exertion is recommended.

  • Oz em on 07/02/2023 - 23:15
    +1

    My cardiac ultrasound tech said more people develop heart problems and also more die from exercise than those who don’t. They overdo it. Too much cardio.

  • sssx on 08/02/2023 - 00:25
    +1

    One physio I went to said there's no major health reason to be going to a gym, lifting weights, doing all that over the top exercise.
    He said most people should be walking a lot (great for the body and general fitness), and a few particular types of exercises (below), and if they enjoy sports then play sports. But gym stuff, weightlifting, pushups, etc were "stupid".

    The particular exercises he said were worth doing I'll describe as "lay on your back, tuck your knees up, and your chin down to your chest, and move your arms about" (e.g. point them up, lower above your head, do a fly movement, etc). I started it for shoulder recovery, and he did suggest adding 1-2kg weights to increase resistance, I guess if you keep going with that it becomes more like typical weight lifting but in a weird position, but I don't recall if he said an upper limit or increase forever etc.

    His thing was that doing it in this position will give you a healthy body in general, good back and neck and core etc.

    I'd say - per your (good and appropriate edit), yeah, "moderate normal life exercise" or "sports and social things" or "get a bit stronger so life is a bit easier" is fine, but when people start pushing it, I'm not sure it's healthy. I believe athletes tend to get sick easier/worse? Athletes allegedly have a harder time climbing mountains like Everest because their bodies are so efficient they need more oxygen than they can get (or something like that)? I've been told endurance athletes harm their bodies quite a bit in their pursuits.

    • DiscountForThee on 08/02/2023 - 08:39

      there's no major health reason to be going to a gym, lifting weights

      Except for, you know, all the major health reasons: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6279907/

      "resistance exercise (RE) is known to be highly beneficial for the preservation of bone and muscle mass"

    • Whomastadon on 09/02/2023 - 12:08

      Sounds like " you've been told " alot of dumb shit

  • porsche26c on 08/02/2023 - 06:53

    TOO much exercise can be an issue, seeing people in there 40s an 50s drop during high intensity exercise (no vaccine comment please, before that). eg Steve Folkes. Fittest guy ever and died while riding his bike.

    It is a fine balance of exercise which you should do and not over doing it like stupid cross fit (injuries galore).

    Best is light weights and high intensity walking. But I know many nonni which havent exercised all their life, but the difference is, good wholesome diets and they worked in the garden.

  • inasero on 08/02/2023 - 08:21

    OP has definitely snorted one too many forks in his/her lifetime

  • inasero on 08/02/2023 - 09:37

    Life is more than just about life expectancy - it's also about quality of life. Arguably, it's better to live independently to the age of 65 and to be able to do things for yourself, rather than be dependent on carers up to the age of 100 because you're not even able to get yourself off the bed (hypothetically speaking). You need to do, you know, actual resistance exercises to preserve your muscle mass into your old age. I don't think walking is going to help with that.

  • burningrage on 08/02/2023 - 11:03
    +1

    I am not sure why the OP copped a lot of flak. I have seen smokers who live much longer than non-smoker so not everything that doctors or whatever health "experts' said are gospel. Honestly, to me just routine (key word) exercise with occasional body building should suffice and don't overdo.

    • Ughhh on 08/02/2023 - 18:18
      +1

      I have seen smokers who live much longer than non-smoker so not everything that doctors or whatever health "experts' said are gospel.

      What do their lungs look like though?

      What those toxic chemicals can do to your organs is a fact. How much and how you are affected by it as well as other factors like genetics, can vary from person to person, hence why the outcome is not the same for all. It's about the 'likelihood' of the consequence.

  • Whomastadon on 09/02/2023 - 12:10

    The amount of people conflating overdoing exercise and injuring yourself or dying, without sensible exercise is insane

    Just because you workout, doesn't mean you are lifting your absolute max everytime until your spine snaps, and you knees blowout.

    And just because you run / cycle, doesn't mean you go so hard until your heart explodes and you die.

    Wtf is this thread.

  • dwillia on 16/02/2023 - 06:31

    my old boss was a fatty - he took up cycling and lost a lot of weight. he was run over on his early morning ride and was killed instantly
    he might have lived another 20 years if he'd stayed fat
    he wouldn't have been run down on his couch

    food (Ha) for thought

  • cupcake on 16/02/2023 - 10:51

    It's not bad for you.
    You just can't over do it. Especially if you are young and growing.
    My brother injured his ankle when he was 14 and playing soccer and was in pain until he had foot surgery before the age of 30.
    A 17 year old relative also injured her ankle after playing on skateboards and rip sticks and it took 6 months to recover from a over stretched ankle tendon. She couldn't walk properly for 6 months. The physio guy said it was the worst ankle he had ever seen.
    If you have weak knees, ankles etc, you just have to be more careful and do less strenuous exercise.
    Means you also have to not over eat or you will be a bit more tubby.
    If you can't go jogging, then walk as much as possible each day.

  • frugalftw on 16/03/2023 - 15:19

    It depends on how you are. If your body does not have the energy to exercise but you push for it, it is bad, but only if you are planning to live a long life, which sounds like what you are contemplating here. Your lifeforce energy is nearly impossible to replenish and determines your longevity (think cars and battery). What happens when you don't feel like exercising but force it, you use your lifeforce energy to power the exercise, as opposed to whatever your body makes on its own (think cars and fuel).

    Couch potatoes typically do not have energy to do a lot of stuff, that's why they are couch potatoes. It is not a matter of laziness but lack of energy. People like to judge, which only prevents them from being compassion and understanding (or that they could not be compassionate or understanding at first place, so they have to judge). This class of energy problem is likely to have rooted in the kidneys.

    Light walking is the best form of exercise to replenish your kidney energy, but it does not work on a treadmill because you have to be physically crossing the earth' grid in order to recharge.

    Respect your body and your mind might follow :) There are no rules other than the ones you made up for yourself.

  • mrdean on 17/03/2023 - 12:28

    It can be if you take it too far in the form of gym work, or don't apply proper technique.

    But it can also help with an enormous range of health conditions, if applied properly. See the Egoscue Method as just one example, it has helped people avoid surgery, including knee replacements. It should be taught at all hospitals, IMO, but then a lot of people & whole industries would become redundant.

  • lostgoat on 17/03/2023 - 12:37

    Isn't it scientifically proven short intensive work out is best ? Voting 26 for that vs 600+ for frequent moderate .

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