A Trail Runners Blog
I thoroughly enjoy reading Scott’s blog. One of these days, I will actually get off my but and do an ultra, but untill then, I’ll live vicariously.
His latest post about VO2 Max testing made an interesting point:
Resting metabolism caloric burn: 516 calories. This means that I only need 516 calories per day to maintain my body weight, or 744 calories on a typical non-workout day. What?!? That’s like two donuts!!! A typical BMI would say that 2200 calories is about right for my age, and a standard chart prediction for a trained athlete would have been closer to 1700 calories. Brian was a bit baffled at the low reading, but then pointed out that nearly all of those calories were consumed from fat and both my oxygen and CO2 levels were shallow. Basically, my body is insanely efficient at rest. Apparently I could fast for a week on the couch and only lose one pound.
Wonder if this is the case for most endurance athletes? The downside to efficiency is that once you stop training, you start putting on the pounds!
That is the problem with using steady state cardio to lose weight and improve your physique. Our bodies are way too efficient at adapting to a stimulus. Within 3-6 weeks our bodies will adapt to long distance running preventing any dramatic improvements from that point forward.
The key to continued results is to supplement in interval training to prevent your body from adapting. You will improve your cardiovascular performance and continue to lose body fat by incorpotating interval training.
Jason
February 16, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Hi Alex, I have run a marathon (Seattle Marathon in 3:10), have run a few 1/2 marathons, about 100 5k’s and 2 Ironman triathlons.
The past few years, I haven’t been racing. I mostly have been lifting, doing yoga and running for my own personal enjoyment.
I do have a desire to start running marathons agains, and try out a few ultra’s; but right now, I am just enjoying the moment.
ravisraman
February 6, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Score. So I can blame my super fitness for why I’m a fat ass.
It sort of makes some sense. In training for the fall marathon, I loss a lot less weight then I thought I would. Went from like 210 to 190. But I plateaued at 190 even when running 50-60+ miles a week. I was faster but stopped losing weight even when eating relatively decently.
a concerned citizen
February 6, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Wow, I never imaged the numbers would be so low! I have heard of olympic trained athletes having rock stead pulse, but such a low BMI is a thing of it’s own.
Ravi, do you currently or have you ever run regular marathons?
Alex Shalman
February 6, 2007 at 12:51 pm