Emily M. Haymes

Thermoregulation and marathon running: biological and environmental influences.

AbstractThe extreme physical endurance demands and varied environmental settings of marathon footraces have provided a unique opportunity to study the limits of human thermoregulation for more than a century. High post-race rectal temperatures (Tre) are commonly and consistently documented in marathon runners, yet a clear divergence of thought surrounds the cause for this observation. A close examination of the literature reveals that this phenomenon is commonly attributed to either biological (dehydration, metabolic rate, gender) or environmental factors.Marathon climatic conditions vary as much as their course topography and can change considerably from year to year and even from start to finish in the same race. The fact that climate can significantly limit temperature regulation and performance is evident from the direct relationship between heat casualties and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), as well as the inverse relationship between record setting race performances and ambient temperatures. However, the usual range of compensable racing environments actually appears to play more of an indirect role in predicting Tre by acting to modulate heat loss and fluid balance.The importance of fluid balance in thermoregulation is well established. Dehydration-mediated perturbations in blood volume and blood flow can compromise exercise heat loss and increase thermal strain. Although progressive dehydration reduces heat dissipation and increases Tre during exercise, the loss of plasma volume contributing to this effect is not always observed for prolonged running and may therefore complicate the predictive influence of dehydration on Tre for marathon running.Metabolic heat production consequent to muscle contraction creates an internal heat load proportional to exercise intensity. The correlation between running speed and Tre, especially over the final stages of a marathon event, is often significant but fails to reliably explain more than a fraction of the variability in post-marathon Tre. Additionally, the submaximal exercise intensities observed throughout 42km races suggest the need for other synergistic factors or circumstances in explaining this occurrenceThere is a paucity of research on women marathon runners. Some biological determinants of exercise thermoregulation, including body mass, surface area-to mass ratio, sweat rate, and menstrual cycle phase are gender-discrete variables with the potential to alter the exercise-thermoregulatory response to different environments, fluid intake, and exercise metabolism. However, these gender differences appear to be more quantitative than qualitative for most marathon road racing environments.

Exercise and mineral status of athletes: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron

Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron are important to a wide variety of body functions, such as mineralization of bones, serving as cofactors to many enzyme systems, sustaining muscle and nerve excitation, and, in the case of iron, maintaining the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Many female athletes consume less calcium than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). This is of concern because of the need to achieve peak bone mass during adolescence and the possible relationship of poor calcium intake to stress fractures. Athletes appear to have adequate magnesium and phosphorus status. However, those athletes who are on calorie-restricted diets may not be ingesting sufficient quantities of magnesium and possibly phosphorus. Limited data have suggested that magnesium status is indirectly related to strength improvement as well as the incidence of muscle cramps. Acute ingestion of phosphorus (phosphate loading) has been shown to improve aerobic capacity. Iron depletion is common in female athletes but similar to the general population. Iron supplements are of health benefit, but of questionable performance benefit, to those who are iron depleted and nonanemic. To maintain optimal status of these minerals, it is recommended that nutrient rich foods be ingested including dairy products and foods high in heme iron.

Walking and running energy expenditure estimated by Caltrac and indirect calorimetry

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of the Caltrac personal activity computer during walking and running. Ten women and 10 men walked at speeds of 2-5 mph and ran at speeds of 4-8 mph on a horizontal treadmill. Two Caltrac monitors were attached over opposite hips: one programed to give caloric expenditure and the other to give Caltrac counts. Oxygen uptake was measured simultaneously. Significant correlations were found during walking between Caltrac estimated and actual energy expenditure (r = 0.91) and between activity counts and net exercise VO2.kg-1 (r = 0.87). However, the Caltrac significantly overestimated energy cost during horizontal walking at speeds above 2 mph. Although there was a significant correlation between Caltrac estimated and actual energy expenditure during running (r = 0.71), the correlation between Caltrac counts and net exercise VO2.kg-1 was not significant (r = 0.29). There was no significant increase in Caltrac kcal or counts with increased running speed between 5 and 8 mph. It is concluded that the Caltrac is a valid indicator of physical activity during walking but does not adequately discriminate between running speeds of 5-8 mph.

Females have a greater incidence of stress fractures than males in both military and athletic populations: a systemic review.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to review incidence of stress fractures in military and athlete populations and identify factors explaining causes and differences in the incidence among genders. METHODS Searches were conducted using several major databases. The studies were included if they were original studies including both male and female subjects and their aim was to identify incidence rates and risk factors contributing to the development of stress fractures. Of several thousand studies, 11 focusing on military populations and 10 on athletes are discussed. RESULTS In both populations, females had higher incidence of stress fractures, with incidence of approximately 3% and approximately 9.2% for males and females, respectively, in military populations and approximately 6.5% and approximately 9.7%, respectively, in athletes. CONCLUSIONS Factors possibly explaining why females are more susceptible to stress fractures include bone anatomy, lower aerobic capacity, smaller muscle, and poor diet. However, both female recruits and athletes with normal weight and bone health are less likely to develop stress fractures, showing that gender is less important than the overall physical shape/condition.

Substrate utilization during treadmill running in prepubertal girls and women.

Ten prepubertal girls (9.1 yr) and 10 women (24.4 yr) were studied during 30-min runs at the same relative (70% VO2max) (RI) and absolute (7.2 km.h-1) (AI) intensities. Oxygen consumption and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were monitored continuously during the exercise test. Venous blood samples were obtained before and immediately after exercise and were analyzed for glucose, lactate, FFA, and glycerol. During exercise at the same RI, RER was significantly (P less than 0.05) lower in the girls compared with the women. In addition, RER decreased significantly during exercise in the girls while the change did not reach significance in the women. Lactate concentration increased significantly during the exercise tests, this increase being greater in the women than in the girls during exercise at the same RI, but greater in the girls than in the women during exercise at the same AI. FFA and glycerol concentrations were significantly higher after the exercise tests in both groups. Glucose concentration did not change significantly during the tests in either group. Prepubertal girls rely more on fat utilization and less on carbohydrate metabolism than women during exercise of moderately heavy intensity.

Ad libitum fluid intakes and thermoregulatory responses of female distance runners in three environments

Ad libitum fluid intakes and thermoregulatory responses were compared in eight female marathon runners during a 30 km treadmill run at individual best marathon race pace (range = 2.45-4.07 m·s -1 ) under three wet bulb globe temperature conditions (25°C, 17°C and 12°C, corresponding to hot, moderate and cool conditions, respectively). Rectal temperature, mean skin temperature and heart rate were recorded at 10 min intervals and expired air was collected every 5 km during exercise. Simulated water stations were also provided at 5 km intervals with voluntary fluid intake being recorded. Blood was drawn before and after exercise for the determination of plasma volume changes and osmolarity. Ad libitum fluid intakes in the hot trial (0.70 - 0.31 l·h -1 ; mean - s) were greater (P≪ 0.05) than in the cool (0.47 - 0.13 l·h -1 ) but not the moderate (0.54 - 0.26 l·h -1 ) trial. Each volume replaced 63%, 68% and 73% of total sweat losses in each condition, respectively, and kept dehydration below ~3% of body mass. After the initial 30 min of exercise, rectal temperature was maintained well below 39°C for >2 h of continuous running. The results demonstrate that the thermoregulatory responses of female distance runners to exercise in variable, but compensable, weather conditions is well maintained when ad libitum fluid intakes replace approximately 60-70% of sweat losses.

Characteristics of elite male and female ski racers.

Fifty-four members of the U.S. Ski Team who competed in the alpine, cross-country, or Nordic combined events were studied to learn more about the characteristics of elite ski racers in each of the events. Variables examined were percent body fatness, maximal oxygen uptake, maximal ventilation, isometric knee extension strength, power, agility, balance, and response time. In addition, isokinetic knee extension strength and endurance were measured on the alpine skiers. Cross-country skiers had higher Vo2max adjusted for weight or lean body weight than alpine skiers of the same sex. Male skiers had larger VO2max with or without adjustments for weight or lean body weight than female skiers in the same events. Alpine skiers had significantly more isometric knee extension strength (males = 3078 N, females = 2194 N) and power during the Margaria-Kalamen stair run (males = 1791 W, females = 1131 W) than cross-country skiers of the same sex. Differences in isokinetic knee extension strength at slow rates of contraction (30 degrees/s) between male and female alpine skiers were not significant when strength was expressed as strength x kg LBW-1. Male alpine skiers produced more power and had more isokinetic leg strength x kg LBW-1 at high contraction rates (180 degrees/s) than female alpine skiers.

Effects of iron repletion on VO2max, endurance, and blood lactate in women.

To determine the effects of an 8-wk dietary iron supplementation (100 mg.d-1) on low plasma ferritin concentration (< 20 ng.ml-1) and endurance, 20 active women (19-35 yr) were studied while performing a VO2max test and an endurance test (80% VO2max) on a cycle ergometer. Subjects were randomly placed in an iron supplement (IG) or a placebo group (PG) using a double-blind method. After treatment in the IG, ferritin levels were higher (22.5 +/- 3.4 vs 14.3 +/- 2.2 ng.ml-1; P < 0.05), Hb increased (12.8 +/- 0.4 to 14.1 +/- 0.2 g.dl-1; P < 0.05), and TIBC decreased (366.2 +/- 24.8 to 293.8 +/- 14.0 micrograms.dl-1; P < 0.05). Also after treatment the IGs VO2max was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than the PG value and their postendurance blood lactate decreased (5.03 +/- 0.44 to 3.85 +/- 0.6 mM.l-1; P < 0.05). Endurance time to exhaustion increased 38% (37.28 +/- 5.03 to 51.4 +/- 7.45 min) following iron treatment; however, this change was not statistically significant. The results suggest that this level of iron supplementation can reverse mild anemia, increase VO2max, and reduce blood lactate concentration after submaximal exercise.

Acute effects of resistance exercise on parameters of lipoprotein metabolism.

Ten healthy, trained males (25.4 +/- 3.1 yr) were studied before and after 90 min of resistance exercise to determine the acute effects of high volume (HV) and low volume (LV) sessions on alterations in lipid and lipoprotein concentrations as well as the activity of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT). The HV session involved the use of 8-12 repetition maximum (RM) loads performed to exhaustion with 60 s rest intervals between sets, while the LV session involved the use of 1-5RM loads with 3 min rest intervals between sets. Fasting blood samples were drawn from an antecubital vein immediately before and after exercise as well as 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Following adjustment for changes in plasma volume, significant changes were only found following the HV session. These included increases in HDL-C (11%) and HDL3-C (12%) 24 h post-exercise. Modifications in HDL-C were significantly different from both the LV and control sessions. In contrast, triglycerides and LCAT were significantly depressed 24 h post-exercise following the HV session when compared with immediate post-exercise values. There were no significant changes in either total cholesterol or HDL2-C at any time. The results of this study suggest that the potential of resistance exercise to affect acute modifications in the lipoprotein profile resides in the volume of exercise performed.

Comparison of sweat loss estimates for women during prolonged high-intensity running.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the error produced by four commonly used field estimates and two prediction equations of total body sweat loss. METHODS Eight women distance runners were studied during a 30-km treadmill run (approximately 70% .VO(2max)) in a warm (30 degrees C T(db)) and a cool (14 degrees C T(db)) environment. Total sweat loss (TSL) was determined from changes in body mass corrected for fluid intake (FI), urine losses (UL), clothing (trapped sweat, TS), CO(2)-O(2) exchange (metabolic mass loss, MML), and respiratory water loss (RWL). TSL was compared with four estimates of sweat losses (often employed in the field) from body mass changes corrected for: a) FI only (F-1); b) FI and TS (F-2); c) FI and UL (F-3); or d) FI, TS, and UL (F-4). Two prediction equations were used also for comparison to TSL values. RESULTS In the warm environment, F-1, F-3, and F-4 accurately estimated (0.2-6.9%; P > 0.05) TSL, whereas F-2 produced a large error (15.3%; P < 0.05). In the cool environment, all four estimates produced large errors (14-41%; P < 0.05). Both prediction equations markedly underestimated (20-22%) TSL in the warm environment and underestimated (41%) or overestimated (20%) TSL in the cool environment. CONCLUSION TSL can be accurately estimated from changes in body mass using F-1, F-3, or F-4 methods in hot environments; however, none of the methods accurately estimated actual TSL values in a cool environment. Neither prediction equation provided accurate estimates of TSL in warm or cool conditions for women runners. These results illustrate the difficulty of accurately estimating and predicting sweat losses in the field.