A 2-Month Race Resulted in Fifty Percent Reduction of Body Fat in Endurance Runners

And in the lower extremities, a 7-percent decrease in the muscle volume was also noted

A recent report said that runners who participated in a two-month, 4,500 kilometer race were able to shed 5.4 percent of body volume during the event, including half of their body fat.

In addition, the muscle volume in the legs of the runners showed an average reduction of 7-percent, which could be due to the large amount of energy consumption, according to the researchers.

In the new study, the researchers conducted an analytic review of data gathered from 44 people who participated in the TransEuropeFootRace 2009, which started in the southern part of Italy and culminated in northern Norway. The findings of the study were presented Nov. 29 at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America, in Chicago.

In a news release issued by the society, Dr. Uwe Schutz, a specialist in orthopedics and trauma surgery at University Hospital of Ulm, Germany said that because of the extraordinary setting of this study, they could obtain large amounts of distinctive data on the way endurance running influences the muscle and body fat of the body.

Schutz also said that much of what they have learned to date may also be applicable to the regular runner.

For instance, the investigators found that you can stay safe even if you “run through” some leg injuries, including intermuscular inflammation, occurring in either the upper or lower extremities. Moreover, they found that the first issue affected by running is body fat, and the largest amount of fat loss in general takes place much earlier in a running regimen than what’s considered in the past.

“When you just begin running, the effects of fat reduction are more pronounced than in athletes who have been running their whole life,” Schutz said, adding that you need to engage in this sport continually over the years, though. If you cease running for quite a while, Schutz said, it is imperative that you reduce your caloric intake or choose to perform other aerobic exercises in order to keep yourself from putting on extra pounds.