Strongman Training vs Marathon Running 05/11/2011
Strongman training has generally been accepted in our industry to be a superior form of exercise than traditionally performed aerobic exercise. But should this be the case? Here is the link to a recently published paper in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21912280. This study compared cardiac structure and function and blood lipids among Strongmen, sedentary controls, and marathon runners. The study showed that myocardial relaxation of elite strongmen to be worse than in the sedentary controls or endurance trained runners. The researchers found that the marathon runners had improved aerobic function, and favourable lipids but found the opposite with Strongmen trained individuals. The authors concluded that Strongmen should include regular cardiovascular risk follow up, improved nutrition and incorporate endurance training during the off-season or when their sport career is over. In some circles within our industry, aerobic training has become a dirty word. Real evidence against performing aerobic exercise is non existent and arguments made for this position falsely extrapolate data from overtrained athletes and animals, improperly understand the hormonal and immune response to regular and moderate exercise, and ignores hundreds of studies that report the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on cardiovascular health, brain function, the immune system, hormonal function and various biomarkers for good health. I note that leading sports scientist Professor Inigo Mujika issued a warning tweet aimed at those who may have been convinced to avoid aerobic exercise based on a recently published article: inigomujika_en Inigo Mujika (En) #strengthandconditioning: if you're reading this bullsh ow.ly/7k1sw do yourself a favor & find valid information sources. Let's hope that the plethora of positive studies on aerobic exercise will retire the theory of the (many) negatives of aerobic exercise for health and fat loss to the back of the bottom draw of theories, never to been seen again, and have trainers use strength training, anaerobic and aerobic exercise to help their clients reach their fitness and body composition goals. Comments Comments are closed. | 
ABOUT TONY Tony is the director of the Boutagy Fitness Institute and has recently completed a PhD in sports science at Charles Darwin University. He is also an Adjunct Associate at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Previously, Tony has been a lecturer at the Australian Fitness Network, the Australian Institute of Fitness, the Australian Catholic University, NetFit New Zealand, New Zealand Weightlifting & is currently on the editorial board for The University of the Sunshine Coast's Fitness Research program, a member of the Australian Institute of Fitness Personal Training Advisory Panel and sits on an expert task force panel for Fitness Australia. Having written strength workouts for athletes in 24 different sports, Tony is actively involved in strength & conditioning and providing educational seminars & resources for personal trainers. Tony was the recipient of the 2004 Australian Fitness Industry’s Author of the Year Award and is a certified ART provider for the entire body and long nerve tract. He is a member of the American Society of Nutrition (ASN), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Lipid Association (NLA), the American Nutraceutical Association (ANA) and The National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA). In his spare time, Tony enjoys cooking (mainly Thai), playing guitar (mainly classical) and reading (mainly ancient history). ArchivesMay 2012 Categories |
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