Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to get moving and shape up. My name is Brock

Armstrong and I'm the Get Fit Guy. In January 2020, a new research paper from the Journal of the

American College of Cardiology suggested that running a marathon for the first time could have several health

benefits, specifically in the realm of reversing age-related aortic stiffening, which occurs

when the elastic fibers within the arterial wall, called elastin, begin to fray due to mechanical

stress. This is generally associated with increased

cardiovascular disease risk factors and aging. The purpose of the study was to determine whether

real-world exercise training for a first-time marathon can reverse age-related aortic stiffening. And,

spoiler alert, I guess, it did. The study concluded that training for and completing a marathon

reduces central blood pressure and aortic stiffness. Even at relatively low exercise intensity, the changes observed were the

equivalent to about four-year reduction in vascular age. Even greater vascular rejuvenation was

observed in older and slower individuals. Now, these findings spawned all kinds of sensational headlines,

like, want to turn back time, try running a marathon, or ready for your first marathon,

training can cut years off your cardiovascular age. Now, those headlines aren't untrue, but they're still telling a different story than I'd like to see them tell.

But before we get into that, here's a little story that may explain why I was so attracted to the idea of doing a podcast episode about this.

Back in December of 2003, I got a bit of what was likely viral gastroenteritis or a stomach

bug, and I was off work for a few days, staying close to the washroom at home, if you know what I mean,

but eventually I actually got so sick that the infection

moved into my paracardium, which is the sack around my heart. I had inflammation of the

paracardium, or paracarditis. When I first arrived at the hospital, the medical personnel drew some

blood and told me that they

were concerned that I might have had a heart attack, so they sent me immediately for an angiogram.

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