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Research analyzes the profile of amateur street runners

Researcher investigated type of training, health conditions, occurrence of injuries and consumption of supplements

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Since his scientific initiation, carried out during his graduation at the Faculty of Physical Education (FEF) at Unicamp, José Vitor Vieira Salgado has looked with interest at the characteristics of amateur street runners. The progressive realization that street racing was becoming one of the most popular sporting events in Brazil and the world, with significant growth in recent years, led him in his doctorate, supervised by professor Orival Andries Junior, to survey and analyze the profile of street runners. According to the São Paulo Athletics Federation, the State of São Paulo hosted 415 official races in 2015, competed by 724 thousand runners.

Photo: Antonio Scarpinetti
José Vitor Vieira Salgado, author of the thesis: practitioners who train longer distances are more likely to consume dietary supplements

The objective of the work was to establish the profile of amateur street runners based on parameters such as form and intensity of training, health conditions, occurrence of injuries and prevalence of consumption of dietary supplements.


Studies

The publication is based on three studies. The first, of a national nature, focused on interviews with participants, volunteers and randomly approached, from four races, all carried out in 2004: Corrida Integração, Campinas - SP; Pão de Açúcar Relay Marathon, São Paulo - SP; Pampulha International Tour, Belo Horizonte - MG; and São Silvestres Race, São Paulo - SP. The results were published in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

The interviews involved questions related to practice time and weekly training frequency, use of professional guidance, clinical examinations, physical assessment and consumption of dietary supplements and aimed to determine the prevalence of their consumption by these runners. Around 30% of respondents reported consuming some type of dietary supplement, mainly with the aim of increasing resistance and improving performance. Among athletes who received guidance from a physical education professional, this percentage reached 42,60%. In general, the consumption of dietary supplements was more frequent among runners with a more intense training routine and more constant participation in races.

The following two studies were the result of longitudinal monitoring, for four consecutive years (2010 to 2013), of participants in the Volta da Unicamp. They were based on the application of a self-completed electronic questionnaire, consisting of questions relating to the practice of street racing and refined based on the experiences acquired in previous research.

The first of these focused on verifying the prevalence of dietary supplement consumption among event participants. Around 21% of those evaluated consume dietary supplements consisting mainly of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and amino acids. This consumption proved to be proportional to the percentage covered per week, running time and increased by approximately 9% in the period studied. The data led the researcher to assume that practitioners who train longer distances for longer are more likely to consume dietary supplements.

Photo: Antonio Scarpinetti
Street runner in Campinas: increasingly popular, sporting activity has seen significant growth

In the same period, the author developed another study with the aim of verifying the prevalence of injuries among participants in the same race. Around 31% of respondents reported some type of injury. Approximately 50% of those injured reported receiving some training guidance from coaches or physical educators. Injuries are more recurrent among those who undergo greater training loads and participate more in competitions. José Vitor assumes that runners who have been running for longer and who undergo greater training loads are more susceptible to injuries, although these inferences must be confirmed by other studies.

Scope

For him, these two longitudinal surveys allow us to outline some aspects of the profile of street runners, providing elements for their practitioners, mainly regarding the need to receive guidance from physical education professionals; undergoing prior and follow-up clinical examinations, which provide a certain degree of safety; and to become aware of the importance of hydration, nutrition, clothing, appropriate footwear and the risk of injury.

The researcher highlights the range of physical and psychosocial benefits that, like other sports, regular running provides its participants. But he also notes that the growing quest for athletic performance can lead to efforts that lead to injuries, aggravated by accelerated recovery and the excessive use of dietary supplements. Among the main factors associated with the incidence of injuries and the consumption of dietary supplements, he highlights the time spent practicing the sport, the volume of training, number of hours a day dedicated to training, and participation in competitions.

 

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Street runner in Campinas | Photo: Antonio Scarpinetti

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