ArticleAmerican journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council2018
Short-term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition.
Article in American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Energy constraint on human health.Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM · 2026Review
- Sexual Function and Libido Loss in Female Climbers-A Cross-Sectional Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Experimental evidence of life history trade-offs during ultra-endurance physical activity.Evolutionary human sciences · 2026Article
- Waves of Endurance: A Pilot Study of Beta Brain Wave Signatures Linked to Immune Adaptation in Transatlantic Rowers.Cureus · 2025Article
- Muscle parameters in men and oxidative stress markers.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2025Article
- A Life History Perspective on Athletes with Low Energy Availability.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Review
- Serum and Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Are Not Associated With Serum Redox Parameters in Amateur Athletes After an Ultramarathon.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- To Be a Champion of the 24-h Ultramarathon Race. If Not the Heart ... Mosaic Theory?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Consequences of Training and Competition to the Musculoskeletal System in Ultramarathon Runners: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2021Review
- Energetics as a driver of human morphological thermal adaptation; evidence from female ultra-endurance athletes.Evolutionary human sciences · 2021Article
- Human athletic paleobiology; using sport as a model to investigate human evolutionary adaptation.American journal of physical anthropology · 2020Review
- Life History Transitions at the Origins of Agriculture: A Model for Understanding How Niche Construction Impacts Human Growth, Demography and Health.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2020Review
- Ultra-endurance athletic performance suggests that energetics drive human morphological thermal adaptation.Evolutionary human sciences · 2019Article
- Physiology and Pathophysiology in Ultra-Marathon Running.Frontiers in physiology · 2018Review
- Short-term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesFollowing predictions from life history theory, we sought to identify acute trade-offs between reproductive effort (as measured by psychological arousal) and somatic maintenance (via functional measures of innate immunity) during conditions of severe energetic imbalance.
methodsSixty-six male ultramarathon runners (ages 20 to 37 years) were sampled before and after a lengthy race. Saliva and sera were collected for testosterone and immunological analyses (hemolytic complement activity and bacterial killing ability). Lean body mass was assessed by bioelectrical impedance, and libido was measured using a slideshow of arousing and neutral images.
resultsFollowing predictions, there was a significant decrease in salivary testosterone levels (109.59 pg/mL versus 97.61 pg/mL, P < .001) and arousal scores in response to provocative images (5.40 versus 4.89, P = .001) between prerace and postrace time points. Additionally, participant bacterial killing ability (P = .035) and hemolytic complement activity (P = .021) increased between prerace and postrace.
conclusionsDecreased libido and testosterone with concomitant heightened innate immune responses suggest a shift in energetic priorities away from reproduction and toward maintenance/defense during a period of energetic stress.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.