Abstract
AimWe aimed to investigate the main anthropometric, cardiorespiratory and haematological factors that can determine marathon race performance in marathon runners.MethodsForty-five marathon runners (36 males, age: 42 ± 10 years) were examined during the training period for a marathon race. Assessment of training characteristics, anthropometric measurements, including height, body weight (n = 45) and body fat percentage (BF%) (n = 33), echocardiographic study (n = 45), cardiopulmonary exercise testing using treadmill ergometer (n = 33) and blood test (n = 24) were performed. We evaluated the relationships of these measurements with the personal best marathon race time (MRT) within a time frame of one year before or after the evaluation of each athlete.ResultsThe training age regarding long-distance running was 9 ± 7 years. Training volume was 70 (50–175) km/week. MRT was 4:02:53 ± 00:50:20 h. The MRT was positively associated with BF% (r = 0.587, p = 0.001). Among echocardiographic parameters, MRT correlated negatively with right ventricular end-diastolic area (RVEDA) (r = −0.716, p < 0.001). RVEDA was the only independent echocardiographic predictor of MRT. With regard to respiratory parameters, MRT correlated negatively with maximum minute ventilation indexed to body surface area (VEmax/BSA) (r = −0.509, p = 0.003). Among parameters of blood test, MRT correlated negatively with haemoglobin concentration (r = −0.471, p = 0.027) and estimated haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) (r = −0.680, p = 0.002). After performing multivariate linear regression analysis with MRT as dependent variable and BF% (standardised β = 0.501, p = 0.021), RVEDA (standardised β = −0.633, p = 0.003), VEmax/BSA (standardised β = 0.266, p = 0.303) and Hbmass (standardised β = −0.308, p = 0.066) as independent variables, only BF% and RVEDA were significant independent predictors of MRT (adjusted R2 = 0.796, p < 0.001 for the model).ConclusionsThe main physiological determinants of better marathon performance appear to be low BF% and RV enlargement. Upregulation of both maximum minute ventilation during exercise and haemoglobin mass may have a weaker effect to enhance marathon performance.Clinical Trial Registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04738877.
Highlights
Long-time endurance exercise training leads to cardiovascular, respiratory, haematological and neuromuscular adaptations
The interplay of physiological determinants of endurance exercise performance may be complex in longdistance running, since the anthropometric and body composition characteristics of athletes have an additional significance, due to the weight-bearing nature of running (Barandun et al, 2012; Tanda and Knechtle, 2015; Salinero et al, 2017)
The personal best marathon race time (MRT) within a time frame of one year before or after the evaluation of each athlete was selected as the parameter that best reflected the adaptations related to endurance exercise training
Summary
Long-time endurance exercise training leads to cardiovascular, respiratory, haematological and neuromuscular adaptations. The few studies having investigated the cardiac determinants of long-distance endurance performance, such as marathon race, have focused on the left heart, essentially neglecting the potential role of right heart (Legaz Arrese et al, 2005, 2006a,b). The interplay of physiological determinants of endurance exercise performance may be complex in longdistance running, since the anthropometric and body composition characteristics of athletes have an additional significance, due to the weight-bearing nature of running (Barandun et al, 2012; Tanda and Knechtle, 2015; Salinero et al, 2017). The impact of endurance exercise training on running performance appears to vary according to the distance of the race. Marathon race may represent the ideal model for the investigation of the role of endurance exercise adaptations in the determination of running performance in long-distance races
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