Abstract  In their interesting article, Ruiz et al. (2013) raise a number of points in disputing our contention that excess long‐term exercise‐training can be harmful. First, they question the relevance of animal models. Our animal work, which exposed cardiac risks of high‐level exercise‐training and defined underlying mechanisms, showed cardiac remodeling very similar to changes seen in man (Benito et al., 20011; Guasch et al., 2013). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved