Mammals in motion: Inbred Jed and the exercise wheel

Hamsters must run, or they’ll get back and hip problems. In the wild, hamsters range far and wide to gather food. In captivity, they need an exercise wheel. Their dedication to running on it is the stuff of legend.

These tiny potato-shaped animals remind me that exercise is essential to surviving and thriving — a true biological imperative.

My hamster Inbred Jed ran an average of 3.3 human miles per night. I know this because for a month, I diligently tracked his nightly mileage as registered on a bicycle computer. The sensor and computer were clipped to the outside of the cage, and the magnet thingie was clipped to the exercise wheel. I reset the trip meter every morning while he slept. After a month of data, I calculated his average mileage at 3.3 human miles per night.

(The Trek bicycle company was kind enough to tell me how to calibrate the computer for the tiny diameter of his wheel, and promised to send a hamster-sized helmet if they ever started making one.)

If a tiny, rotund animal that weighs less than 3 ounces with inch-long legs can average over 3 miles per night, running EVERY night, without fail, what the hell is my excuse?

I don’t recall what Jed’s shortest and longest runs were, but it’s not uncommon for hamsters to run 6 miles in one night. Other rodent overachievers include rats (26 miles a night), wild mice (18.5 miles a night), lemmings (11.5 miles a night), and gerbils (5 miles a night).

Why? Scientists theorize a need for activity; a substitute for exploration; the need to range far and wide to find food. Some experiments suggest that wheel running is play; rodents run for fun and even experience a type of runner’s high. This dedication to running can become a compulsion, just like in humans. The force of it can drive hamsters to the point of exhaustion, seizure or even heart attack. So everything in moderation, even if you’re a rodent!

I don’t have to understand their little rodent reasons to pretend that I too have a biological imperative to exercise. Because I really do.

Eat, sleep, poop, exercise!

This post is adapted from Fit, Fudge, Fine, my nonfiction work in progress about working around the challenges of getting fit at midlife. Learn more at my author website, and follow my Medium publication Fit, Fudge, Fifty for more in this series.