Decrease in body fat during an ultra-endurance triathlon is associated with race intensity

Objective: To investigate whether adipose subcutaneous tissue or skeletal muscle mass decreased during a non-stop ultra-endurance triathlon. Design: Descriptive field study. Setting: The Triple Iron Triathlon Germany 2006 in Lensahn: 11.6 km swimming, 540 km cycling and 126.6 km running. Subjects: 17 male Caucasian triathletes, mean (SD) age 39.2 (7.5) years, height 178 (5) cm, body mass 80.7 (8.9) kg and body mass index (BMI) 25.4 (2.4) kg/m2. Interventions: None. Main outcome measurements: Determination of body mass, skin-fold thicknesses, limb circumference, skeletal muscle mass and percentage body fat in order to show changes after the race. Results: A significant decrease was shown for body mass (p