Kelme (Spain)

The present study investigated the change of body composition in 8 ultra-endurance triathletes during a multi-stage ultra-endurance triathlon, where athletes had to perform one Ironman distance over 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km running per day for 10 consecutive days. In the only 8 male successful finishers, body mass, skin fold thicknesses and circumferences of extremities were measured pre and post race in order to calculate skeletal muscle mass, percent body fat and fat mass. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was performed at the same time to determine lean body mass, percent body fat and total body water. Body mass did not change (p > 0.05), whereas skeletal muscle mass statistically significantly decreased by 1.1 kg (p < 0.05) and fat mass significantly decreased by 0.9 kg (p < 0.05).