Healthy fat for runners
Experts published new guidance on healthy body‑fat percentage for runners, stressing composition over scale and offering target ranges tailored to performance and long‑term health (runnersworld.com). The piece recommends focusing on lean mass and functional thresholds rather than chasing a single number. (runnersworld.com).
A new critical review and expert-opinion paper led by Therese Fostervold Mathisen and colleagues — produced by a subgroup of the International Olympic Committee’s RED‑S consensus — was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine as a set of best‑practice recommendations on body‑composition considerations in sport. (bjsm.bmj.com) That review explicitly examined 29 longitudinal, prospective or intervention studies to evaluate links between body composition and performance. (bjsm.bmj.com) Separate cohort research has shown body composition predicts running performance more robustly than body‑mass index, reinforcing the paper’s emphasis on composition metrics over crude weight‑based measures. (nature.com) Dual‑energy X‑ray absorptiometry (DXA/DEXA) is widely used as the reference method for athlete body‑composition assessment in applied settings. (scienceforsport.com) However, methodological reviews warn DXA scan results can vary with scanner model, technician protocol, hydration and recent exercise, so practitioners are advised to standardize scanning conditions when tracking small changes. (journals.humankinetics.com) Coaching and sport‑nutrition sources commonly cite elite male distance runners in roughly the 5–11% range and elite female distance runners around 10–15%, while some coaching guides list typical elite figures nearer to ~8% for men and ~12% for women. (sportsrec.com) (trainingpeaks.com) Practical guidance for recreational competitors cited in recent coaching materials places healthy male runner ranges broadly at about 8–20% body fat and female runners at about 16–30%, reflecting age, discipline and individual variability. (runreps.com)
