Daily HealthBeat Tip

Looks like a runner

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

They don't look like football linemen, but all runners don't look alike. Researchers Peter Weyand and Adam Davis of Rice University say sprinters are bulkier and more muscled than distance runners � for a reason.

Weyand looked at elite runners. His study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Weyand says sprinters need more muscle than distance runners, who get � comparatively � to glide.

"The sprinters need to hit the ground harder at the speeds that they run at. So the result of that is that they have more muscle. And so that's why they're bigger." (seven seconds)

Weyand says muscle increases as distance shrinks � it's a neat relationship. But he says runners needn't necessarily change their sport because they're thick or thin. He allows for individual differences.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 12, 2005

The White House | USA.gov | HHS Archive | No FEAR Act