Because according to a study led by Dr. Beat Knechtle, an accomplished triple iron triathelete and a general practitioner who studies the changes of body composition during ultra endurance events, the size of your upper arms may dictate your race performance in ultra-endurance runs.
Dr. Knechtle and his team investigated the change of body composition in ultra- endurance runners during the 2006 Deutschlandlauf race in Germany, where athletes had to run 1200 km within 17 consecutive days. Body mass, body height, length of lower limbs, skin-fold thicknesses, circumference of limbs, body mass index (BMI), percentage skeletal muscle mass, and percentage body fat were measured in 19 male Caucasian runners (mean age 46.2 years, mean BMI 22.5 kg/m2) who finished the race. Surprisingly (to me at least), the circumference of upper arm was the only anthropometric factor that showed a statistically significant association with the total running time. The rest of the measured parameters did not show significant correlation with running performance.
Although this is an interesting observation, it obviously needs to be confirmed with a larger study on athletes of different sex and race because they possess distinct anthropometric features, as well as include other important factors such as the level of performance of the investigated athletes and the drop-out rate for non-anthropometric reasons.
Now, let's go hit those bicep curls and tricep extensions. What? It wouldn't hurt to have strong upper arms which we could pump and swing to help generate vertical propulsion for running up those steep hills, right? Right...
Reference:
Knechtle B, Knechtle P, Schulze I, and Kohler G. 2008. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 42, pages 295-299.
Dr. Knechtle and his team investigated the change of body composition in ultra- endurance runners during the 2006 Deutschlandlauf race in Germany, where athletes had to run 1200 km within 17 consecutive days. Body mass, body height, length of lower limbs, skin-fold thicknesses, circumference of limbs, body mass index (BMI), percentage skeletal muscle mass, and percentage body fat were measured in 19 male Caucasian runners (mean age 46.2 years, mean BMI 22.5 kg/m2) who finished the race. Surprisingly (to me at least), the circumference of upper arm was the only anthropometric factor that showed a statistically significant association with the total running time. The rest of the measured parameters did not show significant correlation with running performance.
Although this is an interesting observation, it obviously needs to be confirmed with a larger study on athletes of different sex and race because they possess distinct anthropometric features, as well as include other important factors such as the level of performance of the investigated athletes and the drop-out rate for non-anthropometric reasons.
Now, let's go hit those bicep curls and tricep extensions. What? It wouldn't hurt to have strong upper arms which we could pump and swing to help generate vertical propulsion for running up those steep hills, right? Right...
Reference:
Knechtle B, Knechtle P, Schulze I, and Kohler G. 2008. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 42, pages 295-299.