Mark Sisson says training is no guarantee of health

As a sufferer from celiac “disease” (it’s really more of a condition than a disease), I’ve been interested in the so-called Paleolithic diet, which by definition (no agricultural foods) is gluten-free.

I should have known there are those who take the “paleo” concept to the next level – that of exercising. Lately I’ve been noticing those who argue that humans are designed for moving around a lot, like walking, but with only short bursts of intense effort.

Today, Karen De Coster, writing on the three deaths in the latest Detroit Marathon, brings up “evolutionary fitness”:

This issue really interests me because, as a former endurance jock, I eventually came around to Mark Sisson‘s way of thinking after years of baffling, bizarre illnesses.

Sisson states, in the article on SlowTwitch.com that supplied this ‘blog entry’s title,

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Endurance training is antithetical to anti-aging. So it amazes me when guys in their 40s and 50s who are training for a marathon or Ironman suggest that doing so will keep them young. It won’t. You may feel like a stud now with your shaved legs and your magic marker biceps tattoos, but endurance training speeds up the aging process almost as fast as watching TV, drinking sodas and eating potato chips. Actually, in some cases, it speeds it up even faster.

This would seem to provide a further endorsement of the “Slow (foot)bike movement” that I’ve been following lately (I raced bicycles from 1980 to 1987 and have commuted on bicycles and footbikes since then), and at least should be interesting to those who follow physical fitness. So I’ve added Mark’s ‘blog, “Mark’s Daily Apple,” to my Blogroll.