Over a year ago I did a little study for fun on height/weight ratios, which I posted on Marius's site. Here are the results:
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A few months back I did a study on the body weights of male distance runners (1500-Marathon) that participated in the 2000 Olympics. I found it to be very interesting so I also did one on the top U.S. male distance runners, including non-Olympic qualifiers. Take it for what it?s worth. I can?t guarantee that the runners reported an accurate weight (not to mention fluctuations) and a few runners had no weight listed at all. Also, I threw out a couple of numbers (outliers) that seemed like mistakes, such as one 5?8? 187 pound marathoner. If that number was correct, I feel sorry for that poor soul! :-)
A question that it prompted me to ask is: since relative VO2 max is dependent on body weight (absolute VO2 max/weight in kg), you in effect raise relative VO2 max just by losing weight? At what point does this diminish and why (strength loss, etc.)? I?m sure there are individual differences where this point occurs, but at the top the differences are small. So if Marius (138 lbs/62.72 kg 87 VO2 max), for example, gained 7 lbs/3.18 kg his relative VO2 max would fall to approximately 83. On the other hand, if he lost 2 pounds this does not necessarily mean his relative VO2 max will continue to rise to 88.28 since it could be accompanied by a decrease in strength, or does it? Please tell me if I?m way off or if you have any input.
Sorry for the length, I could not use tables.
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Example: Marius (62.72 kg, 87 ml/min VO2 max)
Absolute VO2 Max = 62.72 * 87
= 5457 ml/min
Increase in weight from 62.72 kg to 65.90:
Relative VO2 Max = 5457 / 65.90
= 82.81 ml/min
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Equations/Conversions (approx.):
Relative VO2 Max = Absolute VO2 Max / Weight in kg
Absolute VO2 Max = Relative VO2 Max * Weight in kg
Lbs = kgs * 2.2
Kgs = lbs / 2.2
Height in Inches = Height in meters * .3937
Height in Meters = Height in inches / .3937
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Results of Olympic study (Height in inches, weight in lbs.):
(Multiply your height in inches by the factor to see where your weight would be, ex. Marius is approx. 72 inches tall * 1.9095 (mean for 5000 runners) = 137.48, pretty close to his 138. )
1500m (39 athletes)
Height
Max ? 76 in.
Mean ? 69.90
Min ? 63
Weight
Max ? 176 lbs
Mean ? 141.82
Min ? 110
Factor (Weight/Height)
Max ? 2.375
Mean ? 2.0271
Min ? 1.6418
5,000m (44 athletes)
Height
Max ? 76 in.
Mean ? 69.18
Min ? 61
Weight
Max ? 158
Mean ? 132.25
Min ? 99
Factor (Weight/Height)
Max ? 2.1351
Mean ? 1.9095
Min ? 1.5469
10,000m (32 athletes)
Height
Max ? 73
Mean ? 68.69
Min ? 65
Weight
Max ? 149
Mean ? 131.38
Min ? 110
Factor (Weight/Height)
Max ? 2.194
Mean ? 1.9123
Min ? 1.6418
Marathon (96 athletes)
Height
Max ? 75 in.
Mean ? 68.23
Min ? 59
Weight
Max ? 165
Mean ? 132.59
Min ? 99
Factor (Weight/Height)
Max ? 2.2687
Mean ? 1.9410
Min ? 1.5714
All Events Combined (211)
Height
Max ? 76 in.
Mean ? 68.81
Min ? 59
Weight
Max ? 176
Mean ? 134.04
Min ? 99
Factor (Weight/Height)
Max ? 2.375
Mean ? 1.946
Min ? 1.5469
Factors for the top 5 finishers in each event:
Event----Max?----Mean?---Min
1500-----2.13----2.012---1.896
5000-----2.099---1.953---1.783
10000?---1.971---1.862---1.754
Mara-----2.224---2.018---1.894
Notice how the marathoners tend to have a higher factor, even among the top 5 finishers. Is this partly due to the increased need to burn fats, therefore they carry more weight?
Factors for Various Runners:
Marius ? 1.9167
Haile ? 1.8615
Tergat ? 1.8889
Ivuti ? 1.7538
Hicham ? 2.1
Ngeny ? 1.896
Goucher ? 2
Pyrah ? 2.06
Hissou ? 1.9155
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Results of American Runners (25 athletes)
Factors:
Event----Max?Mean?Min
1500-----2.30-----2.109---1.93
5000-----2.07----1.976---1.78
10000+--2.13-----1.951---1.78