Confused about long distance running vs. sprinting page

[lotexasgolfer]

I really enjoy long distance runs but i keep reading negative things about it. I do sprint intervals twice a week and the rest of the days i run long distance. Is running long distance going to make me store fat? Can someone explain the difference between the two types of cardio?

[iniQuity]

You don't "feel" the difference?

It's a tough one when you enjoy running long distances. You'd have to pay me for that and I'd probably still fight it. Mark has some articles about it, somebody will probably post but in the mean-time do a little searching through the blog. I actually never bothered to read in depth about it since it's not something I do. All I read was "don't run so often" and went "fine by me!"

[js290]

I really enjoy long distance runs but i keep reading negative things about it. I do sprint intervals twice a week and the rest of the days i run long distance. Is running long distance going to make me store fat? Can someone explain the difference between the two types of cardio?

Skip to the 1h33m mark:

[Hedonist]

You've probably seen pictures like this. Which do you want to look like. Lots of long distance running will hurt you.

[Alex Good]

If you genuinely enjoy it then do it. I think the phobia around running is more about forcing yourself to go farther just to get healthy.
I need to walk/jog everywhere and I'm perfectly alright.

[iniQuity]

If you genuinely enjoy it then do it. I think the phobia around running is more about forcing yourself to go farther just to get healthy.
I need to walk/jog everywhere and I'm perfectly alright.

Yeah the notion seems to be "He runs 10-15 miles a day, he must be SO healthy" and that's the issue.

@js290... I didn't get that at all, but that video is on the docket for today, been meaning to watch it for so long. Watching the whole thing should make that bit understandable... I hope.

[Al_Kavadlo]

If you genuinely enjoy it then do it. I think the phobia around running is more about forcing yourself to go farther just to get healthy.
I need to walk/jog everywhere and I'm perfectly alright.

+1

[IcarianVX]

I didn't watch the video but here is my understanding (and it makes sense to me).

When you put your body/CNS under stress it reacts. If the stress is short but intense it can't react the same way than if the stress is of long duration and even if it is "low-impact" (which long distance running isn't).

This stress causes different hormones to be released. Some good; Testosterone, HGH, IGF3 and some bad; Cortisol being the main one.

Cortisol has the nickname of "the muscle wasting hormone" and is secreted in the fight or flight situations. When you put your body under stress for a long time (long distance running) cortisol has time to build up and will use the amino acids in your muscles for energy - think gluconeogensis on a huge scale. There is also the fact that you are jolting your joints/knees/hips over and over again and straining the ligaments that connect the tissues together. This has a cumulative effect over time and eventually you wind up looking like the guy on the left in Hedonist's picture. You could put that dude in any movie about Auschwitz and it would add a touch of realism to the thing.

Mark (Sisson, in case you don't know who I am talking about) has talked/blogged about this many times. Yes, he ran 20+ miles per day and he was in "great shape." However, he was also sick all of the time and felt like shit while doing it.

Doing it every now and then is ok (for whatever reason you might have) but I wouldn't do it for health or thinking that you are somehow extending your life or anything. I have moved all of my training over to the functional side, so I might be a bit biased on this. I only do things that I know will benefit me in my goals. If my goal were to get from one city to the other over a long distance, over and over again, and not use any fossil fuels, then I guess running long distances would be good. But, I also have the fight mentality of the fight or flight conundrum. If something wants to harm me or others around me, I would rather kill the fucking thing than run away from it.

[Captain Archer]

I hate running, love sprints 7 to 10 minutes a week.
I don't mind nature walks, hiking, swimming, or any other low impact cardio exercises.
I am going to basic training come October so I have to get over my hate for running.
So far thanks to following primal fitness I managed to get my mile down to 5 minutes 30 seconds.

[Leida]

Okay, that does it. Can't run sprints (bunions, will do surgery), hate bike, but starting today, I will go and suffer the sprints on the bloody bike. And to heck with the price, I am ordering fins on-line. I don't know where else to buy them!