Some claim that the exercise endurance depends mainly from the head. A new study on the energy consumption in the case of some of the longest and most exhausting sports events in the world, however, shows that more of the bowel sets the Limit.
Whether it’s the Ironman Triathlon or Tour de France, the toughest endurance sports, the benefits are limited by the metabolism. In the case of physical activities that last over days, weeks or months, people can burn a maximum of 2.5 times your turnover of calories.
Researchers at Duke University found that not even the fastest Ultra-marathon runners in the world managed to exceed this limit. "This defines the range of what ist" for the people;, Herman Pontzer, Associate Professor of evolutionary anthropology said. Beyond the 2.5 times the resting metabolic rate of the body is broken down its own tissue to the calorie deficit. A possible explanation for this Limit could be the ability of the digestive tract, energy from food.
For the study, the researchers examined the daily calorie consumption of athletes that participated in the Race Across the USA in 2015, a 3,000-mile race from California to Washington, in which the athletes run for five months, six Marathons in a week.
After 20 weeks of Marathon, the athletes consumed 600 calories less per day than expected. These results suggest that the body limits its power consumption to stay within a sustainable level. In the case of all long-distance races, showed similar results, no matter if it were a sled race in the Antarctic or the Tour de France in the summer.
ZOU