Male marathon runner physique: Worst physique of any sport??

Of course we are generalizing. One should probably never generalize.

1. Even when you're still capable of doing some high mileage weeks/months/years, yes, you like like sh.it. Options:

a. you look like a kid - and that's when you're "lucky" to be a light, nimble runner.

b. you look accordingly to your age, old skinny fatso who apparently never exercised much.

2. When your 50-100mile weeks are behind you and for some reasons you have to cut down you mileage (injury, boredom, real life obligations, etc.), you start ballooning - see retired East Africans. You quit your running habits easily, but your eating habits stay with you.

Don't be a fool. All models in shoes commercials are not even close to a real runner look.

I love running but I also lift/cycle/swim.

Thanks.

-1

MMA fighters have some of the best bodies in sports.

Kickapoo wrote:

Of course we are generalizing. One should probably never generalize.

Except in mathematics.

Free_the_thigh wrote:

I’ve always thought body builders look pretty gross at elite level.

A power lifters physique isn’t exactly anything to be envious of either

Good call on the power lifters for sure!

Scott Fauble is a pretty ok looking marathoner

Dr. Dysphoria wrote:

I think grand tour-specialist road cyclists have even worse physiques. (And BTW, at the top level pf marathoning, 132 - 145lbs is heavy.)

https://twitter.com/mrasmussen1974/status/667611541043290112

Grand tour riders don't typically look like that. You cherry picked like the worst possible case. I'd say that in general a GC riders looks moderately better than a marathon runner. In no sport does body mass penalize you more than in long distance running. Not even the TDF. Also, classics champs and big guys look damn hot!!!

My understanding is that athletes are “skinny fat” because they eat an overabundance of carbs, causing their body to fail to burn fat properly, or they train at the anaerobic level too much, causing their bodies to burn sugar and not fat too often. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

Also their hard training might lower their testosterone levels, causing them to look skinny fat.

All of which are correctable.

Kickapoo wrote:

Kickapoo wrote:

Most top golfers look okay.

The worst bodies of all belong to those who have tattoos. MMAs are the worst of all sports (if indeed that is not a fake sport).

Of course we are generalizing. One should probably never generalize.

On balance and in 9 times out of 10 when viewing the complete picture, the aggregation of most likely conjectures in the semblance of ambivalent perspectives enveloping all connected objectively-evaluated statistical extremities coinflated Rayleigh-distributed sound-in-noise anomaly approximated by an abbreviated non-sequiturial yield of generalize.

Mikeh33 wrote:

My understanding is that athletes are “skinny fat” because they eat an overabundance of carbs, causing their body to fail to burn fat properly, or they train at the anaerobic level too much, causing their bodies to burn sugar and not fat too often. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

They are skinny fat because they don’t run enough to become properly skinny, but have done enough strength training to build up a base of muscle.

Ie they aren’t as much of an athlete as they think.

xfit_idiot_the_ fake_ one wrote:

This is the best physique for a man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Froning_Jr.#/media/File:USMC-Rich_Froning_Jr.jpg

Or perhaps this physique for a runner (and this dude is fast!):

Hgfvhujjjjjjg wrote:

Dr. Dysphoria wrote:

I think grand tour-specialist road cyclists have even worse physiques. (And BTW, at the top level pf marathoning, 132 - 145lbs is heavy.)

https://twitter.com/mrasmussen1974/status/667611541043290112

Grand tour riders don't typically look like that. You cherry picked like the worst possible case. I'd say that in general a GC riders looks moderately better than a marathon runner. In no sport does body mass penalize you more than in long distance running. Not even the TDF. Also, classics champs and big guys look damn hot!!!

And of course there’s no telling how many of these guys are, like Rasmussen, taking drugs to lean themselves down further than would be otherwise possible.

There could be many factors, but some great runners are just naturally skinny fat and were always that way from youth. I won't name names, but most of us know some. I'm not sure why, but distance running evidently doesn't require rippling musculature.

Again, decathletes best fit most people's notion of a Greek god bod.

biker wrote:

Running is not a means to more sex.

Being you is a means to more sex.

End.

More sex? How about just some sex at all!

rungolfer4 wrote:

Angelo Mysterioso wrote:

Golf.

No doubt about it...

I'd say golfers have better physiques than marathon runners. There are hot pro golfers. There are not any hot pro male marathon runners.

Horse jockey is probably the worst. Sumo #2, male marathon running #3. Most of the other sports listed, like darts, bowling, etc., yeah most of the competitors may not have great physiques, but they at least have the opportunity to if they wanted to. There are probably a least a few. In marathon running, it's not really even an option.

On average pro cyclists at least are taller or have powerful legs.

Who has the best? MMA? Boxing? NBA? Gymnastics? Pole Vaulters?

Basically the best is those that require explosive movements from both their upper and lower bodies. Marathon requires almost no movement from the upper body, and only non-explosive movements from the lower body.

Golf ain't a sport. Nor is baseball, darts, bowling, nascar, jacks, tiddlywinks, chess.