Episode 22: Is There a Toxic Dose of Exercise?

All Things Endurance

In this podcast, host Rick Prince chats with respiratory and exercise physiologist, Dr. Nick Tiller. Rick and Nick discuss if there is a toxic dose of exercise and if so, what it is. Dr. Tiller has established himself as a well-known resource with respect to addressing health and exercise-related myths head on. In that vein, Dr. Tiller is the author of the book, ‘The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science.’

1. Tell us about yourself?

2. Endurance sports seem to be trending toward longer distances. Is this a good thing from a health perspective?

3. Let’s talk about it with respect to a bell curve, would you say that with respect to exercise volume, the health benefits of exercise more or less follow the normal distribution?

4. Training is typically viewed through the lens of increasing performance, however it’s rarely also viewed through the lens of health. Are these two things sometimes at odds with each other and why do you think that the health aspect is often not considered with respect to training?

5. Could you discuss some of the things that might be considered toxic with respect to too much cardiovascular exercise?

6. It’s been my experience that with a lot of endurance athletes, especially those that participate in ultra-distance events, they overprioritize volume over intensity. Have you also found this to be true?

7. Is what could be considered a toxic level of cardiovascular subjective and different for each person?

8. With respect to ultra-athletes, are there are guidelines that you recommend with respect to staying out of the ‘toxic’ zone?

When discussing ‘toxic’ levels of exercise, is it specific to a particular type (ie, cardiovascular, strength, etc…), or is it a culmination of all areas of training with respect to overall training load?