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Cyclists' hearts: can you be so fit that you die?

Medlife Crisis

580K subscribers • 5 videos on Rounds

YouTube
  • Recommended by 2 people, in Hacker News, across 2 different months.
  • The description links 1 paper.
  • May be out of date. Uploaded 8 years ago, in an area where guidance changes.

For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.

2.2M views8 years ago2 recommendations

Heart and metabolismExerciseExercise physiologyHeart disease

An explanation of how extreme endurance training combined with performance-enhancing drugs can lead to dangerously low heart rates and cardiac risks.

Why have dozens of endurance athletes died in their sleep over the last few decades? How can a cyclist's heart rate be slower than an elephant's? Elite cyclists have such extreme physiology and such abnormal cardiovascular systems that their hearts beat less than 30 times a minute. Combined with performance-enhancing drugs that makes their blood thick and gloopy with red blood cells, this spells a recipe for disaster. The legendary 'Il Pirata', Marco Pantani, had to wake up in the night and cycle on a stationary bike to make sure his heart rate didn't drop too low and cause a heart attack. During the day, he lived to ride...but at night, he rode to stay alive. This is my 2nd video so all comments (good or bad) are welcome! If you do like it, please subscribe and like yadda yadda. Let me know any ideas you would like for future videos. -- Further reading: The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell amazon.co.uk/dp/B009S8AV2M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=… Ross Tucker's blog scienceofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/cyclist-dies-in-sleep.… (current website sportsscientists.com/) -- Music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons licence, downloaded from incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?collection=15 -- Sources: Cycling footage (CC) - John Simpson youtube.com/watch?v=rYqma2kHYbA Mo Farah footage - youtube.com/watch?v=W-pYRozSHn4&t=48s Guardian - youtube.com/watch?v=NDG7k8wGYCU Le Tour de France - youtube.com/watch?v=5EJUjd4WV-A Fitbit youtube.com/watch?v=3k3DNT54NkA VO2 max - youtube.com/watch?v=i7kn3mkO7Ec Elite athletes - heart.bmj.com/content/98/12/947

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended for its engaging explanation of athlete's heart and the cardiovascular risks of extreme endurance training.

JshWrightin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Athlete’s Heart (2003)”

Medlife Crisis (a YouTube channel that deserves a much larger following) has a good video related to this topic: link to this video

alfuin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Endurain: Self-hosted Strava like service”

"Medlife Crisis" has an interesting video about this: link to this video (Cyclists' hearts: can you be so fit that you die?)

ausbahin Hacker News • Mentions

On “The Heart of a Swimmer vs. the Heart of a Runner”

I've heard of some professional cyclists years ago who turned their bodies into such efficient biking machines from training + drugs that when they when to sleep, there was a change of them dying in their sleep because their heart rate was so slow. They'd have to get up in the middle of the night and bike just to stay alive. Only anecdotal, but worth considering. link to this video

xrefin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Overweight and healthy is a big fat lie, obesity study finds”

> He was so fit, he has to cycle several times at night to make his heart go faster and not to die. That wasn’t because he was “so fit” was it, but rather from being in the middle of a powerful doping regimen (like all top cyclists were, you simply couldn’t compete otherwise) raising your hemocrit level to the point it could kill you? Vid about it: link to this video

01100011in Hacker News • Mentions

On “Heavily mutated coronavirus variant puts scientists on alert”

I don't know, but just to throw this out there, I believe very cardiovascularly 'fit' people have a risk of death because their heart rate can drop dangerously during sleep( link to this video ). I would also think soccer players are more likely to use performance enhancing drugs. I wouldn't blame it on the vaccine without more data.