Comparative physiological profiles among young and middle-aged female distance runners

Sj, Upton; Rd, Hagan; Lease, B; Rosentswieg, Joel; Lr, Gettman; Jj, Duncan

doi:10.1249/00005768-198401000-00014

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…In the elite group, all subjects exhibited O2max values in excess of 60 ml kgt min1, but four subjects had values less than 63 m1 kg1 mint. Our finding that mean O2max was greater in the elite than the good runners is consistent with most previous comparisons of groups of endurance athletes that differ in performance level (1,14,17,19). Daniels et al (4) reported no difference between elite and subelite women runners in O2 max.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Their performance level was higher than that of most previously studied groups of women runners. The physiologic responses to treadmill running observed in this study are consistent with the group's elite competitive status and are superior to those reported in most previously published studies (3,5,6,8,10,11,16,(19)(20)(21)(22) (20,21). A comparison of the data of Wilmore et al with those reported here suggest that the physiologic status of currently elite women runners is markedly superior to that of nationally ranked women runners of the previous decade.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Responses to Submaximal and Maximal Exercise in Elite Women Distance Runners*

et al. 1987

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Methods 91In recent years competitive distance running for women has undergone remarkable growth and change. Competitive opportunities for female runners have been markedly expanded at the local, collegiate, national, and international levels. The number of women participating in distance running events has increased greatly. Perhaps most importantly in the present context, performance standards for female distance runners have improved dramatically over the past 10 years. Since women's distance running has become so popular and highly competitive, physiologic characteristics of successful female runners are of interest to coaches, trainers, and sport scientists. Cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise have been studied previously in highly trained women runners (3-6, 10, 11, 16, 19-22). However, most of the previously studied groups of women runners were not of elite caliber by current standards. Also, in general, previous studies of women runners have not conducted comprehensive examinations of physiologic responses to submaximal and maximal exercise. To date, no study of highly competitive female runners has employed a design comparable to that employed by Pollock and collaborators (14) in their frequently cited study of elite male distance runners. In that investigation, elite runners were compared with highly trained "good" runners and, within the elite group, subgroups of longdistance and middle-distance specialists were compared. The present study was intended to apply the design of Pollock et al. (14) to a study of women distance runners. Specifically, the purposes of this investigation were: (1) to describe the cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise of a group of elite women distance runners, (2) to compare the physiologic responses of elite women runners to those of good women runners, (3) to compare elite women long-distance runners with elite women who specialize in middle-distance events, and (4) to construct a physiologic profile of elite women runners that would allow comparison with previously studied groups of elite male runners. *ThIs research was supported by a grant from Coca-Cola USA of Atlanta, GA.The subjects for this study were 15 elite female distance runners and 13 good female distance runners. Descriptions of their training, competitive performance, and physical characteristics are presented in another paper in this supplement (18). Each subject gave informed consent. In addition, all subjects underwent a medical examination includng resting blood pressure and electrocardiogram prior to treadmill testing. The subjects were requested to avoid training for 12 h prior to the treadmifi (TM) evaluation and to refrain from eating during the 3 h before the tests. All subjects were given the same instructions and verbal encouragement during the TM tests by one of the two primary investigators (RRP, PBS). The TM evaluation had two parts, a submaximal run and a maximal run. After a standardized 1 0-mm warm-up of TM walking and running, a breathing valve and headgear...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Responses to Submaximal and Maximal Exercise in Elite Women Distance Runners*

et al. 1987

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“…The documented relationship between running activity and endurance capacity, showing the same, typically nonlinear shape for both genders, is suggestive of a trainability of women comparable to men. It therefore confirms other nonexperimental evidence (24,29). Together with age and a few other behavio-ral characteristics, running activity even explained half of the individual variance observed in VO2max equivalents in the multivariate analysis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Benefits and Risks of Running Among Women: An Epidemiologic Study

Marti

1988

Int J Sports Med

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To describe some of the suggested health benefits and risks of regular running in young and middle-aged women, a group of 428 Swiss female contestants in a popular 16-km race was studied by questionnaire (response rate 86%). The estimated endurance estimate capacity of female runners (VO2max equivalents, based on 16-km running time) was superior to the endurance capacity of both the female and the male general population. The strongest predictor of runners' VO2max was habitual weekly training distance. Training and life-style characteristics of the contestants were able to explain part of, but not the whole, difference in VO2max seen between runners and women of the general population. Running activity was positively associated with reported weight loss and quitting smoking. However, during the year preceding the race, 40% of the female contestants sustained running-related injuries or complaints, 17% sought medical help therefore, and 14% had to interrupt running for 6 weeks on average. Sites and types of running injuries showed specific female properties. Female runners had significantly less outpatient physician visits than the general population, but among runners the highly active (greater than or equal to 25 km/week) had more visits than the moderately active (less than 25 km/week), due to excess consultations because of running-related complaints. This cross-section study used epidemiologic methods to quantify some benefits and risks of running.

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“…Several investigators have reported more favorable blood lipid profiles in physically active groups than in inactive reference groups (1,12,13,18,32,34). These observations have contributed importantly to an understanding of the apparent cardioprotective effect of regular exercise (9,13,15).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%