More problems with endurance activity....

You may have picked up from the sort of things that I am posting that I am not a huge fan of endurance training. I think it is good to be able to walk for 6 or 8 hours but in general I am more in favour of more intense/abbreviated training along the model of the power law that I discussed in the post about football.

Mark Sisson had a piece recently called The Case Against Cardio which eloquently and elegantly explained the problems associated with excessive intense endurance training.

This article, written for GPs, lists some common problems faced by endurance athletes.

The link above takes you to the full text article. The abstract is below.

Common problems in endurance athletes.
Cosca DD, Navazio F.

University of California Davis, Sports Medicine Program, Sacramento, California 95816, USA. david.cosca@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Endurance athletes alternate periods of intensive physical training with periods of rest and recovery to improve performance. An imbalance caused by overly intensive training and inadequate recovery leads to a breakdown in tissue reparative mechanisms and eventually to overuse injuries. Tendon overuse injury is degenerative rather than inflammatory. Tendinopathy is often slow to resolve and responds inconsistently to anti-inflammatory agents. Common overuse injuries in runners and other endurance athletes include patellofemoral pain syndrome, iliotibial band friction syndrome, medial tibial stress syndrome, Achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis, and lower extremity stress fractures. These injuries are treated with relative rest, usually accompanied by a rehabilitative exercise program. Cyclists may benefit from evaluation on their bicycles and subsequent adjustment of seat height, cycling position, or pedal system. Endurance athletes also are susceptible to exercise-associated medical conditions, including exercise-induced asthma, exercise-associated collapse, and overtraining syndrome. These conditions are treatable or preventable with appropriate medical intervention. Dilutional hyponatremia is increasingly encountered in athletes participating in marathons and triathlons. This condition is related to overhydration with hypotonic fluids and may be preventable with guidance on appropriate fluid intake during competition.