What the research says:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Endurance sports have a high degree of repetitive action <\/a>that can wear on the joints and bones of the athletes.<\/strong> Running in particular is well known for this effect, due to the constant impact with the ground.<\/p>\n The flip side of this phenomenon is that the impact associated with running also improves bone density. <\/strong>The Journal<\/em> study was interested in the interplay between muscle size, bone quality, and body composition in distance runners.<\/p>\n 36 Division I male and female cross country runners were examined for this study. <\/strong>Their stress fracture histories were taken, and their best performances were measured after the season was over. These values were compared to several measures taken in the lab. Bone density and composition were analyzed, as well as total lean mass, muscle size in the leg, and fat mass.<\/p>\n The researchers discovered numerous physical correlations that we would expect.<\/strong> For example, more bodyweight corresponded with more lean muscle mass, and lean mass was positively correlated with improvements in bone mineral density <\/a>and composition in both men and women. However, the number of correlations that yielded improvements in performance were few.<\/p>\n RELATED: Weight Training Basics for Runners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The researchers also noted the difference between genders. In the women, none of the studied variables correlated to performance. For the male runners, there were a few interesting relations between the data.<\/strong> Higher fat mass was positively correlated with performance in 10k races, and a higher percentage of body fat correlated to better performance in 5k races. More body fat wasn\u2019t correlated with higher bodyweight in this study.<\/p>\n The results showed that bone health was significantly improved by larger and stronger muscles.<\/strong>\u00a0Further, it takes physical preparation to achieve the level of the participants in the study, which is benefited by strength training. To that end, the researchers of this study recommended resistance training and plyometrics<\/a> for runners.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/p>\nBackground<\/h2>\n
Study Design<\/h2>\n
Results<\/h2>\n
Recommendations<\/h2>\n