Body Mass and Circumference of Upper Arm Are Associated With Race Performance in Ultraendurance Runners in a Multistage Race—The Isarrun 2006

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the association of anthropometric parameters with race performance in ultraendurance runners in a multistage ultraendurance run, in which athletes had to run 338 km within 5 consectitive days. In 17 male successful finishers, calculations of body mass, body height, skinfold thicknesses, extremity circumference, skeletal muscle mass (SM), and percentage body fat (%BF) were performed before the race to correlate anthropometric parameters with race performance. A positive association was shown between total running time and both body mass (r2 = .29, p < .05) and upper arm circumference (r = .23, p < .05). In contrast, body height, skinfold thicknesses, extremity circumference, SM, and %BF showed no association with race performance (p > .05). We concluded that in a multistage ultraendurance run, body mass and upper arm circumference were nega tively associated with race performance in well experienced ultraendurance runners. In contrast, body height, skinfold thicknesses, circumferences of the other extremities, SM, and %BF showed no association with race performance.

How the Kenyan runner’s body structure affects sports results

“…In our study all the Kenyan runners were distinguished by low BMI (19.55 ± 1.51), low body fat (5.41 ± 1.75%) and slim calves (37.84 ± 6.43 cm). similar results were published by Knechtle et al [19] and Kong et al [20]. In the chosen elite Kenyan runners they noticed low BMI (20.1 ± 1.8), low body fat (5.1 ± 1.6%) and slim legs (34.5 ± 2.3 cm), however in our study a negative correlation between the calf circumference and run time was found.…”

A Comparison of Ultra-Endurance Cyclists in a Qualifying Ultra-Cycling Race for Paris-Brest-Paris and Race across America—Swiss Cycling Marathon

“…The association of anthropometric characteristics with overall race time was also investigated because in prior studies of ultra-endurance athletes, anthropometric variables such as a lower body mass (Knechtle, Duff, Welzel, & Kohler, 2009), a lower Body Mass Index (Hoffman, 2008), a lower body fat (Knechtle, et al, 2009d) and a lower upper arm circumference (Knechtle, Knechtle, Schulze, & Kohler, 2007;Knechtle, et al, 2009a) were related to faster race times, presumably due to great training and increased conditioning. In ultra-cyclists, a lower body fat was associated with a faster race time (Knechtle, et al, 2009d), but not skin-fold thicknesses (Knechtle & Rosemann, 2009;Knechtle, et al, 2009b).…”

Comparação entre dois testes motores utilizados para análise da força/resistência muscular em mulheres jovens

“…Despite that the possible influence of body mass and other morphologic variables on physical performance has been the subject of previous investigations in both anaerobic 19,20 and aerobic 21,22 activities, as well as in the comparison between genders 23 , the results reached so far are still in-conclusive since the magnitude of the contribution of these variables seems to depend on the characteristics of the motor task required. In this study it was believed that the motor performance in each test could be largely explained by the morphological variables, which was not confirmed, mainly in relation to body mass, fat mass, and lean body mass in the FKPU test.…”