Cardiac structure and function in weight trainers, runners, and runner/weight trainers

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare cardiac structure and function in adult male weight trainers, runners, and those who do both activities. Subjects had actively participated in the various training programs for the previous five years. Age ranged from 28.4 to 31.3 years in the three groups. Echocardiography was used to assess selected heart diameters, volumes, indices of contractility, and thicknesses, while VO2 max and percent body fat were measured using standard methods. Heart structure and function were expressed in absolute terms and relative to total body weight. An alpha level of .05 was used in all comparisons. Results indicated the runners demonstrated significantly greater relative LVIDd, LVIDs, and LVPW than the weight trainers. The runner/weight trainers possessed significantly greater relative LVIDd, LVIDs, LVPW, IVS, and LVEDV than the weight trainers. No significant differences, absolute or relative, existed between the runner and runner/weight trainer groups in any of the myocardial structure and function variables. It was concluded that men who run or run and weight train have similar structural and functional characteristics of the heart and possess greater relative internal diameter and left ventricular wall thickness than men who only weight train.