Energy expenditure during a 161-km mountain ultramarathon 🏔️
Absolutely monstrous nutritional demands.
Total Energy Expenditure and Intake During a 161-km Mountain Ultramarathon
Study Details
This new study assessed the demands of two ultra-endurance runners including…
🔥 Total energy expenditure (TEE)
💧 Rate of water turnover (rH2O)
🍽️ Ad libitum energy/fluid intake
…during a 161-km ultramarathon.
Plus extending the TEE and rH2O measurement window to a 7-day postrace period 🗓️
Here is what they found ⬇️
Key Findings
Both runners completed the race in 32.8 hours ⏰
Total energy expenditure was…
🔥 Runner 1 = 15,723 kcal / 11,225 kcal per 24hr / 6.5 × BMR
🔥 Runner 2 = 15,888 kcal / 11,293 kcal per 24hr / 7.4 × BMR
Calorie intake during the race was ~50% of total energy expenditure‼️
Hydration during the race was…
🥤 Runner 1 = 21.8 L fluid
🥤 Runner 2 = 15.7 L fluid
Whereas rH2O was only 14.6 L and 15.5 L in runners 1 and 2, respectively 🧐
During the 7-day postrace period…
Total energy expenditure was…
🔥 Runner 1 = 22,634 kcal / 3245 kcal per day / 1.9 × BMR
🔥 Runner 2 = 19,116 kcal / 2721 kcal per day / 1.8 x BMR
Rate of water turnover was…
💧 Runner 1 = 41.8 L
💧 Runner 2 = 24.0 L
Conclusion
Achieving energy balance during an ultramarathon of this scale is practically impossible 📈
The post-race week is also calorically demanding and therefore emphasis should be put on eating enough during this period to maximise recovery and restore negative energy balance ✅