Can intense lifelong exercise eventually wear out your body?

[jennifer_bloom]

My dad said he has a friend he has known around 50 years who now looks very weak and fragile and they used to be so athletic you would think they were an Olympic athlete, and I know anecdotal stories of others that were highly athletic and then developed medical problems from being pushed past their physical capacity in life.

[Spencer10]

Absolutely... look at professional athletes. Many of them are wrecks after their careers end. A good friend who played pro hockey till he was 28 can hardly walk after the intense wear and tear on his knees.

[RareBreedOfMan]

Yes it can, I knew a Avon lady walked everywhere, ate a good diet and she developed Congestive Heart Failure. So it just shows us too much exercise can cause health problems later in life.

[exitseven]

I ran marathons when I was in my 20s and 30s. I was really too heavy for the sport bur I trained a lot.
Maybe that is, why I had 2 hip replacements.
However people are surprised when they find out my age.

[xawyx-3]

It's possible, eventually, if you exercise too hard.

[Alex-Snow]

Overuse injuries do happen especially if it is a repetitive exercise

[fishbone77]

Not as much as not exercising will do to your body.

[CountryGirl7]

Yes, if you do too much.