On the Deaths of Liu Xiaoping and Zhang Xuefeng While Running: Exercise Wisdom for Middle-Aged Adults

On September 15, 2025, Liu Xiaoping, an associate professor at Tsinghua University and a star runner on its morning-run team, died suddenly at age 51 after running triggered a cardiac event. On March 24, 2026, the well-known public figure Zhang Xuefeng also died suddenly at age 41 after running triggered a cardiac event.

Reading these two news stories side by side, I broke out in a cold sweat for myself. I am five and a half years older than Mr. Zhang and five and a half years younger than Professor Liu — and I am also a morning runner. I have no choice: I am at university, and the school requires every student to take part in the "Sunshine Run"; without it I fail physical education and risk graduation.

Fortunately, the Sunshine Run requires only 26 runs per semester, 2–3 times a week, just 1.5 km each time. I had originally intended to run every day, but — and I do not mind looking ridiculous — after reading about Zhang Xuefeng's death I changed my mind and skipped this morning's run. Over the coming dozen-odd weeks I plan simply to complete the required 26 runs and no more; the rest of the time I will switch to gentler exercise such as walking.

Why does running cause sudden death in middle age? Because our organs have already begun to age, and a host of hidden diseases may be present without our knowing. Vigorous exercise like running can very easily trigger sudden cardiac death.

For most of human history, life expectancy was only about forty years. Wars, plagues, and famines killed off large numbers. People with hidden illnesses were naturally culled in successive waves. When my father was a child, it was rare to fill a table with villagers over fifty. My grandfather lived to 72, the longest-lived of his three brothers. By my father's generation, all eight male cousins lived close to or beyond eighty, and most are still alive. My third uncle recently died of illness at 75, the first of the eight brothers to pass away.

Today, thanks to better nutrition and medical care, we have eliminated many highly lethal epidemic diseases — smallpox, plague, cholera — and life expectancy has lengthened greatly. But our genes were not designed for everyone to live long, so it is no surprise that some people now die suddenly while still young.

If we want to live longer, we should still respect the laws of nature. Middle-aged people do not fear death; they cannot afford to die. With elderly parents and young children, our death would deal our families a devastating blow.

The saying we hear most often is "life lies in exercise," but this is only partly true. Correct, moderate exercise is genuinely beneficial to health, while erroneous, excessive exercise is quite harmful.

The Dutch neuroscientist Dick Swaab, to prove his thesis that protecting the brain matters more than exercise for health and longevity, once compiled an interesting statistic: based on Dutch government data on seasonal hospital visits for sports injuries, he concluded that most exercises popular with the general public cause more harm than good. Interested readers can consult the relevant chapters of Swaab's book We Are Our Brains for his fuller argument. Swaab is not against exercise; he is against wrong exercise habits and the absurd fitness culture of modern people.

Two Chinese scholars, Zheng Ji and Zhou Youguang, lived past 110; neither was an enthusiast of today's popular gym culture. Ji Xianlin and Fei Xiaotong lived past ninety; again, neither pursued trendy fitness. These scholars were hardly athletic types; throughout their lives their main exercise was simply walking, and the rest of the time they spent in their studies.

Running, mountaineering, basketball, and football have only become popular in recent decades, and as everyone knows they easily cause injury; skating, skiing, and horseback riding are even more dangerous. These activities have entertainment value, but their fitness value is exaggerated. For middle-aged and older adults, overindulgence in such sports may do more harm than good.

Gentler activities — walking, tai chi, Baduanjin, and aerobics — suit people over forty better than the above sports.

In short, the musculoskeletal system of middle-aged and older people has degenerated and metabolism has slowed; exercise must be combined with diet control to maintain a standard weight. We can no longer rely on vigorous exercise, as the young do, to control weight and stay healthy.