Re: body fat and performance

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/17/99 7:31:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, lb@nismat.org 
writes:

<< While their body fat is likely higher than 
 athletes running shorter events, they also tend to be an older group 
 [mean age 49 yrs], and as we all know, we get fatter as we get older. 
  Nontheless,  body fat was directly correlated with finish time:  
 higher body fats, higher [slower] times.  Furthermore, for both men 
 and women, non finishers weighed significantly more than finishers.  
 the race this year was extremely hot, around 100 F, so the extra 
 weight probably impaired thermoregulation.  However, we found similar 
 results last year when conditions were far more moderate.   >>


Ok, but in studies of Olympic level marathon runners, it has been found that 
higher lean muscle mass means better performance. So body weight is not a 
good criteria. It is the quality of the body weight that counts.

ti


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=