Cyclists live longer

[ColinJ]

We all know that moderate exercise is good for us but I have seen some people suggest that we only have a certain number of heartbeats to live and that we can 'use them up quicker' by 'over-exercising'.

Now clearly, there is such a thing as 'over-exercising' in extreme cases. People can suffer from exhaustion, illness due to suppression of the immune system, and injuries, but is exercising hard inherently bad for us? I'd wondered about this for years, and had thought about looking up the ages at which former Tour de France riders died. If the limited number of heartbeats concept is correct, then old pro cyclists should be dropping like flies!

I never got round to doing the research, but I read in Cycling Weekly today that Spanish scientists have done just that. They analysed the data for 834 riders from France, Italy and Belgium who rode the TdF between 1930 and 1964 and compared them with the general populations of France, Italy and Belgium in those years. The results were very pleasing for us - ex-tour riders lived on average 17% longer than their non-pro peers. 50% of the public were dead by 73.5 years of age, whereas half the ex-TdF riders survived beyond 81.5!

I'm sure that you could come up with theories why this is so ... better medical care for the pro cyclists, better wages, better nutrition and so on. I don't care what the reasons are. It's a green light folks - within reason, the more exercise you do and the harder it is, the better it is for you - go for it!

 

[Davidc]

The heartbeats thing doesn't stand up to any form of arithmetical analysis - just start with the lower resting heart rate for fit people.

The improved health and greater lifespan of those who are fit is well proven and documented. I'm a classic example of it. The converse is the reason average lifespan in the west may fall over the next few decades.

 

[Red Light]

50% of the public were dead by 73.5 years of age, whereas half the ex-TdF riders survived beyond 81.5!

80 year old ex TdeF riders? Must have been all the drugs that did it.

 

[Red Light]

The heartbeats thing doesn't stand up to any form of arithmetical analysis - just start with the lower resting heart rate for fit people.

The improved health and greater lifespan of those who are fit is well proven and documented. I'm a classic example of it. The converse is the reason average lifespan in the west may fall over the next few decades.

The $64k question though is is it a net lifespan gain when you've accounted for all the time cycling.

I did read a serious analysis proposing cycling was an environmentally unfriendly form of transport. The logic used was cyclists live longer so are putting CO2 into the atmosphere for longer.

 

[Davidc]

The $64k question though is is it a net lifespan gain when you've accounted for all the time cycling.

I did read a serious analysis proposing cycling was an environmentally unfriendly form of transport. The logic used was cyclists live longer so are putting CO2 into the atmosphere for longer.

Silly question - the useful part of life has to be the part whn you're enjoying yourself, and cycling is part of the enjoyable bit (most of the time).

The second bit has the same logic as saying that smoking tobacco, drinking too much alcohol and driving too fast are environmentally friendly because they all cause people to die younger and hence pollute less. By the same logic a cull of all humans would be very environmentally friendly!

 

[zacklaws]

I'm sure that you could come up with theories why this is so ...

Its simple to understand, the TdF riders were sober for 23 days, whilst the public partied for 23 days, on tops of hills etc abusing their body with alcohol as they waited for the peleton.

 

[ohnovino]

Indurain had a resting pulse of 28bpm - if he has a finite number of heartbeats, he'll probably live to 200.

 

[ColinJ]

Indurain had a resting pulse of 28bpm - if he has a finite number of heartbeats, he'll probably live to 200.

He also had a maximum heart rate of about 200 bpm and I bet he was way up there on the mountains and in time trials.


It would be interesting to know what his RHR is now he isn't training any more. He looked like he had put quite a few kilos on the last time I saw him on TV.

If the maximum number of beats thing was true (which I don't believe), then you'd have to try and calculate if the low pulse rate of very fit people at rest compensated for the high pulse rate when training or competing.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Surly its the quality of life that's more important, living longer is no good if you're that frail you can't enjoy it. Its the fitness and good health we can carry into old age that's the important thing.

 

[Red Light]

Surly its the quality of life that's more important, living longer is no good if you're that frail you can't enjoy it. Its the fitness and good health we can carry into old age that's the important thing.

That's the bit that's attractive bit to me - maintaining my mobility and independence as close to the inevitable as possible. One of the measures is that regular cyclists have a physical age about ten years younger than their chronological age compared with the general population.

 

[Glover Fan]

Even if the maximum number of beats theory had any merit about it, what percentage of people actually die in their sleep of heart failure before something else takes them out first?

Lets be honest realistically only a fit and healthy person is likely to get to that scenario, so if there is such a thing as a finite amount of heartbeats the probability is that it will be a cyclist anyway.*

*Or any other form of exercise.

 

[ColinJ]

Surly its the quality of life that's more important, living longer is no good if you're that frail you can't enjoy it. Its the fitness and good health we can carry into old age that's the important thing.

That's the bit that's attractive bit to me - maintaining my mobility and independence as close to the inevitable as possible. One of the measures is that regular cyclists have a physical age about ten years younger than their chronological age compared with the general population.

Even if the limited number of heartbeats thing was true, I'd trade a shorter active life for a longer, less-active, frail and ailing one.

The idea that we can have longer and more active lives is great!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

That's the bit that's attractive bit to me - maintaining my mobility and independence as close to the inevitable as possible. One of the measures is that regular cyclists have a physical age about ten years younger than their chronological age compared with the general population.

Its the bit that bothers me as well, like everybody else I want to live as long as possible, but I wouldn't want to continue if my mind had gone or my physical condition was that bad I needed round the clock care.

 

[BrumJim]

Cyclists living longer?

Not only do we have to endure them treating red lights as optional, getting in the way when I have more important business, and not paying any road tax but still getting special cycle lanes built for them which they never use, but they will continue doing it long after I have had a coronary from too much stress, bad food, and not enough exercise.

There's no justice, I tell you - no justice.

Harumph!

 

[ColinJ]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned cyclists being killed in accidents yet!

I did see some figures a while back that took accidents into account and cyclists still gained significantly on average. I.e the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle greatly outweighed the risk of being killed or crippled in an accident while out on your bike.

I've got a picture of a great uncle of mine with his sit-up-and-beg bicycle. He must have been about 80 then and he cycled into his his mid-80s. I think he was nearly 90 when he died.