In the summer training season of my senior year of high school, I wanted to do absolutely everything extra that I could to give myself an advantage over the competition in the upcoming track season. Among other things I would go for a second run that was slower and shorter than my first the shakeout my legs. I did this for approximately two months before official practices started, and when it did start, I told my coach about what I had been doing for training over the summer. To my surprise he told me that those extra 2 mile runs I did everyday most likely have little to no effect on my fitness. It turns out my body didn’t actual start to work it aerobic system until 4-5 miles into a run so anything short of that did nothing for me. To define practice, it is repeating something to result in some improvement or increase in efficiency. Since these runs made no difference in my fitness, they weren’t even considered practicing running by definition, it was just running. My coach then advised me to not do these extra runs unless my weekly mileage demanded more then I could handle in a single run. This was to avoid dips in my performance from overtraining.

In the bigger picture, middle distance athletes are supposed to train based off the kind of fibers are most present within their muscles. If an athlete finds themselves on the slower end when it comes to speed then they will train their slow twitch fibers into intermediate, likewise speed-based athletes train their fast twitch into intermediate. Under the previously assumed definition of practice, it is completely pointless for a slower athlete to train their max speed by doing a speed strengthening workout because it wouldn’t help strengthen their slow twitch fibers. So why do these athletes still do these workouts? Taking a deeper look into running, it is not all about staying at a certain speed for a certain time. Many factors such as form, mentality, coordination, and flexibility all contribute to the art of running. Distance strong athletes training at their top speed may not help their aerobic fitness at all, but their sprinting form and flexibility will improve. Similarly, when a sprinter engages in a longer distance run, they aren’t helping their speed whatsoever, but their aerobic system and mentality are improving. These are all considered practice by definition because what they are training is improving despite it not helping their priority event whether that be distance or sprints.

However, if a sprinter decides to run at a pace that’s fast but not quite fast enough to fully engage their fast twitch fibers it won’t have an effect on their anaerobic system. The same goes for the distance not being quite long enough to engage the aerobic system.  These shorter slower “sprints” will have no affect on their goal of getting faster, so at this point its just running; no practice involved. The same goes for a distance runner running half the distance at a slower pace then usual. This run will not engage the aerobic system at all therefore no improvement will result from doing the run. The only reason anybody would decide to do more running is if they are overworking or chasing pain in the hopes to get better. These actions are where it stops fitting the definition of practice and fits more towards the definition of Overtraining Syndrome. Overtraining Syndrome, as stated by Alice Palmer in “Overtraining: Spot the Signs” is a persistent, unexplained dip in performance that continues even after sufficient rest. These extra activities that athletes think will push them ahead of their competition is closer to discontinuance than it is to practicing. It’s more beneficial for athletes to not practice at all then it is to engage in extra running related activity. In fact, the best treatment for overtraining is to take a step back in your original training plan and put more focus on recovering the overworked muscles.

Overtraining usual occurs when an athlete feels so dedicated to their goal or cause that they want to do more than what is assigned to them. They often take things into their own hands and do dangerous amounts of extra training. According to Marci Goolsby in her article “What is overtraining,” chasing pain or overreaching is when the muscle soreness goes above and beyond what you typically endure as result of when you don’t take enough rest between training sessions. When you ignore the signs of overreaching and begin chasing more pain because you believe it will make you a better athlete it becomes a case of overtraining. Then the resulting weakness and dip in performance makes the athlete work want to even harder through the pain in an attempt to get better. This results in serious injury and can take anywhere from weeks to months of time to recover, which given the athlete in this situation wants to work harder, can be very mentally challenging. A complete halt of practice can throw a dedicated athlete down a rabbit hole of mental distress which is why overtraining is just as mentally dangerous as it is physically dangerous.

After being told the extra runs I was doing weren’t benefiting me at all I looked at my training plan with an entirely new perspective, as it had already been made to work me to my fullest despite my brain telling me to do more. I should have been doing more recovery instead of more miles.  Part of practicing anything is taking a break and letting yourself recovery from what it is that you are practicing. For middle distance athletes, since they are by far the most worked and diverse athletes when it comes to training plans, they have to immediately let their coach know if they feel overworked or are having any sort of unnatural pain. Failure to do so can result in months lost of training and competition. Furthermore, if you feel like you can or should be doing more let your coach know and they’ll give you safe options on what else you can be doing.

Obesity Rises Cancer Rates

Humans that are obese are prone to have negative health effects for most of their life. Those health effects can be cardiovascular issues, cancer, bone issues, etc. There is no limit to the amount of sickness and issues being obese can give you. Not being able to stay active and being under the body mass index can cause cancer. The differences between the sexes may in part be due to carcinogenic exposures and lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol and eating fattier foods — all of which are more prevalent among men. Heart disease and weight loss are closely linked because your risk for heart disease is associated with your weight. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at higher risk for the condition. 

After researching obesity, the hypothesis that obesity and negative health effects have been one of the top three reasons for humans getting cancer was the top study I found. This study covers that weight, weight gain, and obesity account for approximately 20% of all cancer cases. Data from the past 25 years point to obesity as a cause of approximately 14% of cancer deaths in men and up to 20% of cancer deaths in women. Overweight and obesity have increased from 15% in 1980 to 35% in 2005. The researchers of, International Agency for Research on Cancer, studied and tested the rates of obesity in the majority of the common cancers. Researchers concluded that that obesity was a cause of 11% of colon cancer cases, 9% of postmenopausal breast cancer cases, 39% of endometrial cancer cases, 25% of kidney cancer cases, and 37% of esophageal cancer cases. 

Obesity in children and adults has different effects on the body. Children’s cases of obesity have more than 200,000 cases per year in the United States. Usually, there are no lab tests or imaging studies. Obesity is common from ages 8-16. Obesity in children can last from months to years and genetics can increase the likelihood of being obese your whole life. Obesity in adults is more severe and there usually isn’t a way to go back. It is easier to catch obesity at a young age and change habits sooner than later. Obesity in adults is very common. There are more than 3 million cases per year in the United States. It can sometimes be treated by a medical professional. It also does not require lab tests or imaging. It can last several years if habits are caught soon enough or it can be lifelong. “Healthy behaviors include regular physical activity and healthy eating. Balancing the number of calories consumed from foods and beverages with the number of calories the body uses for activity plays a role in preventing excess weight gain(CDC).” 

Obesity in women and men has different effects on the body. Men are more likely to be more active than women. Heart disease and weight loss are closely linked because your risk for heart disease is associated with your weight. Men are more likely to recognize that being overweight causes health problems and are not distracted by the way they look. Men have roughly twice the percentage of muscle mass as women. This makes them heavier. “The nutrition transition taking place in many developing countries has also affected excess weight gain among both genders, but has had an even greater impact on the physical activity levels of women(Kanter).” Men have a higher chance of getting cancer while women are more likely to survive it. Men are 6% more likely to die from any type of cancer than women. Men are 12% more likely to die from a certain type of cancer than a woman with the same type of cancer. “A recent study suggests that the differences between the sexes may in part be due to carcinogenic exposures and lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating fattier foods — all of which are more prevalent among men(E-health).”

 Since the 2002 IARC report, new evidence has supported a cause-and-effect relation between overweight and obesity and the start of these cancers, increasing the responsibility of cancer resulting from obesity. Physical activity, body size, and metabolic efficiency are related to total energy intake. It is difficult to assess the independent effect of energy intake on cancer risk. There are sufficient pieces of evidence to support the role of physical activity in preventing cancers of the colon and breast. Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution, patterns, and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that obesity is probably related to cancers of the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder, and aggressive prostate cancer. The body mass index can determine whether you are obese or not. Body mass index is a value derived from the mass and height of a person. The body mass index is used as a screening tool for overweight and obesity. Being overweight and obese can cause changes in the body that help lead to cancer. Some of these changes are long-lasting inflammation and higher than normal levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and sex hormones. The risk of cancer increases with the more excess weight a person gains and the longer a person is overweight. 

Studies have shown that with improved cancer survivorship, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other noncancer events compete with cancer as the underlying cause of death, but the risks of mortality in competing-risk settings have not been well characterized. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of conditions that involve the heart and blood vessels. CVD deaths are varied by first cancer site, indicating increased risks after the first diagnosis of lung cancer, hematologic malignancy, and urinary tract cancer. For individuals with all cancers combined, CVD was the leading cause of competing mortality in both male and female patients with cancer. CVD can be caused by obesity. Men are more likely to be more active than women. Heart disease and weight loss are closely linked because your risk for heart disease is associated with your weight. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at higher risk for the condition. Medical experts consider obesity and being overweight to be major risk factors for both coronary heart disease and heart attack.

Obesity is one of the leading factors in cancer. What we do with our body, what we put in our body, what we do in a day all are leading causes that get to cancer. Obesity has different effects in men and women, children and adults, and healthy and unhealthy people. The different causes of each person have a different effect on how long and how healthy a person can live. Obesity is dangerous. Bad habits need to be stopped. 

References

How cancer affects men and women differently. (n.d.). http://Www.eehealth.org. https://www.eehealth.org/blog/2017/11/how-cancer-affects-men-and-women-differently/

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/obesity/index.htm