Running Favors Skinniest Of The Skinny

Everyone knows that successful runners are always light and lean, but a new study by researchers at the University of Zaragosa, Spain, suggests that body fat percentage is as important to running performance as any physiological factor. The Spanish scientists used skinfold measurements to estimate body fat percentage in 12 elite male and 12 elite female Ethiopian distance runners and compared these estimates to their race performances. They found an 80 percent correlation between skinfold measurements and race times in the men and a 78 percent correspondence in the women. All of these runners were very lean, but the leanest among them were the fastest. Body fat estimates were comparable to other physiological measurements such as forced expiratory volume in predicting performance. The study was published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.