I would say that for most of us that are triathletes, one big benefit of the sport is the healthy lifestyle that comes with it. You do a lot of aerobic training, you gain an interest in nutrition in particular and in health in general. You take care of yourself more than the average person.
But there are those that don’t see the sport that way. There are those that don’t care about the health benefits but only the lifestyle associated with it, and above all the accomplishment of finishing a goal race, often an Ironman.
So the question is, why do these people do it? Why won’t they focus on the heathy lifestyle and instead just on just racing.
We all have seen people at races that look severely overweight. Those people are not healthy by any medical standard. I am not a medical doctor, but I would say that those people are endangering their health even further by participating in such hard physical activity.
I would hypothesize that the heavier of racers may be the people that rush into it too quickly and haven’t given their bodies the time to lose the weight.
Some people really can’t lose weight and others just don’t know how to properly. Just because you do a tonne of exercise doesn’t automatically mean one will lose weight. But again, maybe they are just doing it for the love of being out there with the rest of us?
Maybe the are setting goals in their weight loss and using races as incentives. Those larger people could have already lost a goal amount of weight. Also, maybe they simply enjoy it. People enjoy smoking so they do it despite the health dangers, people smoke pot, snort coke, ride without a helmet, drive without a seatbelt, etc.
“We all have seen people at races that look severely overweight”
For some of these folks this is because of genetics. There is a big difference in how somebody may look and how fit they actually are. I know a woman who is very fit but looks overweight.
For me it’s about fun and fitness. Doing a bunch of local sprint triathlons every season is motivation to stick with the program on a regular basis. If there were no triathlons, my exercise schedule would probably be more irregular.
But I’ve known others with the only goal of finishing an Iron Man. There was one couple that entered an IM as their one and only triathlon. Once completed they sold their bikes and moved on to a new challenge. I believe they took up sky diving as their next interest to add to the resume.
I also knew a guy that entered a marathon as his first running race. It was a walk/run but he finished. Did this mean he was a runner? No way. He didn’t run after that, but could tell everyone that he completed marathon, which is something I can’t say.
While there are many triatletes who are overweight, it is a big mistake to automatically equate a rail thin low body fat body with “healthy.” There are plenty of thin people walking, and even running, around with high colesteral, bad arteries and other health ailments we normally equate with being unfit. Conversely, there are quite a few people who could lose 10 or 15 pounds who have perfect blood and heart health.
Also, it is quite inaccurate to charactorize triathlons as “hard.” Sure, one can push the pace and make them hard and lots of triathletes do that. But the majority of triathletes at any given tri that is not an IM are there just complete the race and just finishing a tri is probably one of the easier physical feats your average want to be endurance athlete is likely to take up. Even at a competitive level, I’d rate a sprint or even Olympic tri as being easier than any running race of a half marathon or longer or any bike race; even a 20 minute Cat 5 crit.
So, why do out of shape people take up tris? Because they are fun and not that hard. The serious out of shape people decide to run marathons.
I’ve seen a guy running out around the back bay where I live every saturday. This guy is big and looked completely unhealthy. He has circulation problems, enough so that you can see the bruised look around his ankles. I kept seeing him every weekend and finally took the time to talk to him. The guy is still big, but has lost 200LBS! He was morbidly obese and decided to make a life change. Now every time I see him, he gets a complimentary “looking good!”. Moral of the story, everyone has their own struggles, and judging them off of a quick snapshot is often times unfair.
Why do people still smoke when they are walking around with portable oxygen?
Why do people in California where it never snows, need a 4 wheel drive vehicle?
Why does someone living on the edge of poverty with 3 kids get pregnant with a 4th?
To answer your question, they don’t focus on the healthy lifestyle of triathlon because they are only in it for the short term. Probably a large % of them will drift off to something else when the thrill is over of getting that IM photo finish shot with their dog.
I’m off to get a box of Krispy Kreme’s for the ride home…
While there are many triatletes who are overweight, it is a big mistake to automatically equate a rail thin low body fat body with “healthy.” There are plenty of thin people walking, and even running, around with high colesteral, bad arteries and other health ailments we normally equate with being unfit. Conversely, there are quite a few people who could lose 10 or 15 pounds who have perfect blood and heart health.
I would agree that there are those that have low body fat and can have health problems, but those are not common. Severely overweight people with health problems is quite common. So I asked about the rule, and you answered me with the exception.
Also I wasn’t talking about the people that could lose 10-15lbs. Those are not the severely overweight.
Obese people that don’t train, don’t care about their health and are still racing triathlons is quite common, and we all know that. I asked the question because I am a bit puzzled by what are their motivations to do it. Some of you already shed some light on the subject.
Quote: “For most of us that are triathletes, one big benefit of the sport is the healthy lifestyle that comes with it.”
That’s a big assumption. Did you see the “I just ate a bunch of cookies” thread? Many of us are not at our ideal health in regards to nutrition, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. Frankly, many of us actually use our exercise as a way of “allowing” ourselves to eat poorly. I think most of us know better, but we don’t always want to follow what’s good for us–this is true regardless of your size.
Quote: “the accomplishment of finishing a goal race”
I think that’s it for most of us. Whether it’s too finish, improve our splits, etc. A goal like a race makes exercise more fun.
Quote: “I am not a medical doctor, but I would say that those people are endangering their health even further by participating in such hard physical activity.”
I’m not a doctor either, but I’d say any exercise routine is good. And most of these people are probably not going to die from going hard (ie heart attack) but may injure themselves (ie knee injury). But if they are able to get through the training and make it to race day–good for them.
While there are many triatletes who are overweight, it is a big mistake to automatically equate a rail thin low body fat body with “healthy.” There are plenty of thin people walking, and even running, around with high colesteral, bad arteries and other health ailments we normally equate with being unfit. Conversely, there are quite a few people who could lose 10 or 15 pounds who have perfect blood and heart health.
I would agree that there are those that have low body fat and can have health problems, but those are not common. Severely overweight people with health problems is quite common. So I asked about the rule, and you answered me with the exception.
Isn’t it usually the exception that makes the rule?
Why do people drive around a mall parking lot for 10 mins when they could have just parked/walked into the mall 5 mins earlier?
Why do people honk their horns at a stop light for the person in front of them to go sooner when all they are going to do is go home and watch a rerun of Friends that they have already seen 6 times?
Why do people who are on a diet feel okay eating 3 pieces of cake when the box says “fat free”?
i think the bigger question is, why do people (or triathletes) do anything that is dumb, or is visibly counterproductive?
for example, why do some people on internet forums who are professed leaders and guides sometimes have nasty and truly unpleasant posts and comments to other folks who are just basically trying to learn, and explore, question, offer opinions, and think ?
you asked a good question, but i don’t you will find any definitive answers. it could be a number of things, problems with self image or self esteem, or it might be something else. its just that many people don’t seem to follow any transparent rules of logic, good health, or common decency. heck, look at the leaders of many countries as perfect examples of this …
I think some people feel that if they exercise, they lower their risk of diseases, particularly heart disease. Many people think that daily exercise gives them a free pass to eat whatever they want so they exercise and then overeat.
I hear this line of logic everywhere. “I deserve this gallon of ice cream and potato chips because I ran 4 miles.”
I think too many people make food choices based on calorie count and not on nutritional value. If something has less than 100 calories, it must be good.
They’re groupies.
