Heartbeats in the Bank

If you are a runner, now is the time to make a very important decision. How are you going to use the 10,000 heartbeats you save each day? You know those sedentary slobs you meet at parties who say you shouldn't exercise because you'll use up your heartbeats and die earlier? They're wrong.

According to my calculations the average sedentary slob uses 2,798,107,200 heartbeats before they snuff it at age 76. Using myself, Sleek Steve, as an example, I figure that I save 9,900 heartbeats per day if I exercise for one hour with my heart rate at 75% maximum. This means that after 76 years, when the slobs are dropping like flies around me, I still have 274,814,100 beats left to get me to 84 1/4 years (if I use them as I go).

I could save them until the end and sleep for 11 1/2 years. Or spend almost nine years sitting around telling running stories and drinking beer. If, however, you decide not to save the heartbeats to the end, but to invest them throughout your lifetime, be careful you don't invest too many in additional exercise. For example, if you're an ultra-marathoner and exercise four hours a day at 75% maximum heart rate, then you will use 3,600 more beats per day than the slob. Life may seem longer, but you will die 2 to 2 2/3 years earlier.

The Merits of Running: Life expectancy if total beats used in a lifetime equals 2,798,107,200

For the Sedentary Slob

Activity Total Beats/Day 8 hours sleep @ 55 beats/min 26,400 8 hours activity @ 85 beats/min 40,800 8 hours sitting @ 70 beats/min 33,600 Total beats per day 100,800 Life expectancy 76 years

For Sleek Steve

Activity Total Beats/Day 8 hours sleep @ 45 beats/min 21,600 7 hours activity @ 75 beats/min 31,500 1 hour exercise @ 150 beats/min 9,000 8 hours sitting @ 60 beats/min 28,800 Total beats per day 90,900 Life expectancy 84 1/4 years

Now it's true some people drop dead while exercising, but most people die in bed. It is estimated that for every 396,000 hours of jogging there will be one extra death. That's a lot of miles. And the risk of dying seems to be related to your level of habitual activity. If you're a sedentary slob and decide to start exercising then your chance of dying during exercise compared to your risk at other times increases by a factor of 56. If, however, you are habitually active then the chance of dying of cardiac arrest while exercising only increases by a factor of five. And this is counter-balanced by the other 20 hours of the day when the chance of dying of cardiac arrest is only 40% of that of a sedentary slob. Therefore, keep at it. Just don't do it too much.

Discuss This Article

Have something you'd like to say? Tell us what you think! Read and post comments for this article.

Find a Job

Choose your career:

MedHunters is the world's biggest healthcare job board. Our job directory has 17,366 jobs with 2,444 hospitals and other direct employers.

We want you to find your next job on MedHunters. Need Help? Call us at 1-888-884-8242, email us at info@medhunters.com or sign up now.