Marathons are all the rage these days, and suddenly it seems like everyone and their dog is signing up to drag their limp frames across 26.2 miles of excruciating bodily unhealthiness. Whoa, whoa, what are you thinking? Aren’t you taking that a little far? Well, maybe. But seriously, only a little. It’s great to exercise and all, but most people do very little research before embarking on a long, grueling and injury-causing training program. Unfortunately the lack of education on the true results of chronic distance running leads many people to make choices that aren’t good for their bodies and may, over time, even erode their health. Below I’ll explore several of the reasons that I hate distance running, and then suggest a few ways to achieve many of the same results without endangering yourself.

Distance Running Can Lower Testosterone

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that there is a significant negative correlation between testosterone levels and large volumes of running. In other words, the more you run, the lower your testosterone gets: The study found that men who ran over 40 miles a week had substantially lower levels of testosterone than their counterparts who ran shorter distances. Unfortunately, lower testosterone compromises more than your ability to stay awake, your good mood and your performance and drive in the bedroom – as if those weren’t reasons enough. It can also make you more prone to injuries and less likely to heal quickly from the normal stresses that exercise places on your body.

Distance Running Causes Excessive Oxidative Stress

Difficulty healing from workouts is also due to the fact that running places an undue amount of oxidative stress on your body. This is when your body’s natural defenses against free radicals can no longer keep up with the number that you are producing in the course of a normal workout. “Your body is designed to deal with oxidative stress that comes from exercise for the first hour,” cardiologist James O’Keefe, MD, Director of Preventative Cardiology at the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, told Women’s Health. “But prolonged intense exercise causes excessive oxidative stress, which basically burns through the antioxidants in your system and predisposes you to problems.” This can damage necessary fats in your body, causing damage at the cellular level, and may even contribute to diabetes. Not good.

Distance running also causes injuries. A lot of them.

In people training for marathons, the incidence of reported injuries has been as high as 90 percent annually. Such a ridiculous figure makes you wonder why anyone would sign up for that, especially considering that if you do become injured, you can significantly reduce your ability to engage in healthy, regular workouts. Besides, more and more runners are reporting behavior and feelings that look more like addiction than like healthy exercise. Needing a certain amount of something (especially when that amount is steadily increasing) to experience a certain high is the very heart of addiction and physical dependence, and running at the expense of your bodily health only adds further weight to the argument. The truth is, other forms of exercise are more beneficial than steady-state distance running. While steady-state cardio can be beneficial, this is only for short periods of time, after which you increase your chances of the negative consequences above. Instead of running for hours, aim for 20 to 30 minutes of interval training in the weight room or in the convenience of your own home. One could use an implement such as a kettlebell and design a workout that will improve your mobility, increase your strength and tax your cardiovascular system and be done in 20-30 minutes. Who wouldn’t want an injury free body that is stronger, more mobile, cardiovascularly efficient and has less body fat in a fraction of the time that it takes most people to plod along for 26 plus miles? So, next time you are thinking about signing up for the next big race, think about what it is exactly you are trying to attain. Do you want a weak, frail, injury prone body or a toned, lean body with slabs of muscle?