Veteran athletes with heart problems?  Is it inevitable?  There are a number of retired high profile triathletes who have heart problems - Dave Scott, Normann Stadler, Greg Welch and of course our own Julian Jenkinson died after suffering a cardiac event while out riding. Look through some of the triathlon and cycling Facebook groups and you will also find many threads about athletes who have had, or are still having, issues with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. If athletes who were once the world’s best are not immune then where does that leave the rest of us enthusiastic amateurs?

In today’s podcast, I’m going to have a go at clearing up a lot of the misinformation that surrounds the topic of training for endurance sports and associated cardiac issues.

My guest is Peter Swoboda - Consultant Cardiologist and senior lecturer at the University of Leeds.  Peter has been involved in extensive research into the relationship between fitness and the quality of heart size, and is currently engaged in a study to understand the changes to heart structure with age in veteran athletes who have a history of training at least 8-10 hours per week for many years.  If you have any concerns about your heart health or have suffered with your own cardiac issues then this conversation will answer a lot of your questions as we discuss:

“The Broken Leg” study and what happens to your fitness with just 6 weeks of inactivity

Why astronauts MUST row for 2 hours per day when they are in a zero gravity environment

Can a life time of exercise lead to changes in the structure of the heart, and is it part of normal physiology?

What type of sports pre-dispose people to Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) and other heart issues

Rowing and cycling and why they have a different effect on the heart to running.

Why athletes are humans first and have the same statistical likelihood of heart problems as sedentary people

Noticeable changes in heart response to exercise and why it’s ALWAYS a good idea to get a check up

Why exercise is a good thing for just about all humans

Peter’s training advice for over 50’s

Ultimately why you should not worry, the statistics are in your favour

In this podcast I mentioned the book The Haywire Heart.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].