Chinese J Physiol
-
Comparative Study
A comparison of anthropometric and training characteristics among recreational male Ironman triathletes and ultra-endurance cyclists.
"The physique of Ironman triathletes was considered to be similar to that of cyclists. We intended to investigate differences and similarities in anthropometry and training between 83 Ironman triathletes competing in a qualifier for 'Ironman Hawaii' and 84 ultra-endurance cyclists competing in a qualifier for the 'Race across America'. The anthropometric and training characteristics were compared between these two groups of athletes; associations of anthropometric and training characteristics with race time were investigated using bi- and multi-variate analysis. ⋯ The abdominal (P = 0.003) and the iliacal (P = 0.02) skin-fold thicknesses, percent body fat (P = 0.001) and cycling speed during training (P = 0.01) were related to cycling split time in the Ironman race. For the ultra-cyclists, percent body fat (P = 0.04) was related to race time. We concluded that anthropometry and training of Ironman triathletes were different when compared to ultra-endurance cyclists."