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Ben Hunter

@benshunter

Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics. Interested in non-linear dynamics, and endurance performance. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ben-Hunter-2?ev=hdr_xprf

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28.10.2024
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Latest posts by Ben Hunter @benshunter

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@benshunter.bsky.social (@londonmetuni.bsky.social), Maunder (Auckland University of Technology), Jones (@exeter.ac.uk), Gallo (University of Pavia) and Muniz-Pumares (@herts.ac.uk) discuss the current approaches and essential considerations for assessing physiological durability.

๐Ÿ“œ buff.ly/nJM1oaU

24.11.2025 15:12 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Itโ€™s great to see our review on the methodological considerations when profiling durability alongside some interesting work in this special issue.

Worth a read!

Thanks to @expphysiol.bsky.social for showcasing our work.

05.11.2025 09:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks, Michele!

05.11.2025 09:24 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

9/
๐Ÿ™ Thank you to all those that made the study possible, particularly the runners!

๐Ÿ” Sharing this thread would be appreciated.

Happy to answer any Qs!

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

8/
๐Ÿ” Takeaway message:
- Determinants of endurance performance decline after prolonged running.
- Smaller drops in the sLT following prolonged running are associated with faster marathons.
- Durability should be considered alongside the โ€œbig threeโ€ when profiling runners.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

7/
๐Ÿค” Why could the durability of the sLT matter?

sLT integrates VOโ‚‚peak, FULT, and RE, but these change to different extents between individuals following prolonged exercise.

Changes to sLT may be a useful composite measure of durability to monitor in runners.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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6/
๐Ÿ”‘ The key finding:
The smaller the decline in the sLT between PRE and POST, the faster the runnerโ€™s marathon time (D)

Runners with more โ€œdurableโ€ thresholds performed better.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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5/
After a 90-min run at lactate threshold pace, from PRE to POST on average:
- VOโ‚‚peak โฌ‡๏ธ ~6%
- RE and FULT โ†”๏ธ
- Speed at lactate threshold (sLT) โฌ‡๏ธ ~0.7 km/h

โš ๏ธ changes to these exhibited inter individual variability.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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4/
In this study, we measured determinants of endurance performance (VOโ‚‚peak, FULT, and RE) in 18 runners from the 2024 London Marathon in both fresh (PRE) and fatigued (POST) states, as well as tracking their performance during the race.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

3/
The โ€œbig threeโ€ deteriorate following prolonged exercise, potentially impacting marathon performance.

The resistance to this deterioration has been termed durability or resilience.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

2/
Traditionally, performance is explained by the โ€œbig threeโ€:
- Maximal oxygen uptake (VOโ‚‚peak)
- Fractional utilisation at lactate threshold (FULT)
- Running economy (RE)

These combine to give the speed at lactate threshold.

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Durability of Parameters Associated With Endurance Running in Marathoners Physiological markers of endurance performance include the maximal oxygen uptake (Vฬ‡O2peak), its fractional utilisation at lactate threshold (FULT), and running economy (RE), which are closely tied t...

New ๐Ÿ“–: Durability of parameters associated with endurance running in marathoners published in @eurojsportscience.bsky.social

We tested associations between durability of key physiological parameters and marathon performance.

๐Ÿ”—: doi.org/10.1002/ejsc...

๐Ÿงต below

27.10.2025 21:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

6/6
It would be cool to see future work further examine the relationship between changes to running biomechanics and durability, possibly in more controlled settings.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

5/6
Interestingly, only the most durable runners (low decoupling) changed their speed-adjusted stride mechanics over time:
โฌ†๏ธ step frequency
โฌ‡๏ธ step length and vertical oscillation
These shifts may (or may not) reflect economical adaptations under fatigue.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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4/6
BUT after adjusting for speed, most of these differences disappeared, suggesting that The findings suggest that most commonly observed biomechanical changes following prolonged running are largely mediated by changes in speed.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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3/6
Runners with greater decoupling slowed more and showed larger biomechanical deteriorations.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2/6
We recruited 69 marathon runners and analysed their HR + footpod data over 5 km splits during their respective marathons. They were separated into low, moderate, or high decoupling groups.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

๐Ÿงต 1/6
Durability = ability to resist physiological deterioration (e.g., HR rising for same speed). Measured here as HR-to-speed decoupling. Lower decoupling = better durability.

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Durability of physiological and biomechanical variables during a marathon Durability is the ability to withstand the deterioration of physiological parameters and is associated with marathon performance. The aim of this study was to examine whether changes to biomechanic...

New ๐Ÿ“–: Durability of physiological and biomechanical variables during a marathon published in JSS, with Aldo Lena and Daniel Muniz

๐Ÿ”—: doi.org/10.1080/0264...

22.10.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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UK universities cut back on crucial research because of reduced funding One in five institutions spending less, including in areas such as cancer and heart disease, says report

So the key aspect that makes a university is its research, so what is it when there's no or little research? A college?? A serious errosion of knowledge creation.
UK universities cut back on crucial research because of reduced funding www.theguardian.com/education/20...

18.09.2025 19:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A key attack line in the next few years coming from Trump/MAGA and Reform is that university teachers (lecturers/professors) are poisoning the minds of young people, brainwashing them into leftist thinking. Make no mistake, this is a pretext to defund the sector. 1/n

14.09.2025 20:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 25 ๐Ÿ” 9 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
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Sex differences in durability following heavy intensity cycling exercise in trained athletes The ability to withstand impairments in key physiological variables during prolonged exercise, known as durability, is emerging as an important factor in cycling performance. While females possess phy...

The preprint of our latest sex differences research is now online:

โ€œSex differences in durability following heavy intensity cycling exercise in trained athletesโ€

The result of a very fun collaboration between research groups with similar interests! ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

02.09.2025 13:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Please may I get a copy? Looking forward to reading the full text!

27.08.2025 19:13 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Tomorrow at @ecssofficial.bsky.social Iโ€™ll be discussing our findings on the durability of marathon runners and its association with performance.

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ 02.07.2025, 13:15
๐Ÿ“ Lavatoio

If youโ€™re not attending and would like a copy of the slides, get in touch.

01.07.2025 10:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New paper out in Scand J Med Sci Sports!
โ€จWe tested the reliability of running economy (RE) and other physiological parameters during 90 min of running.โ€จโ€จโžก๏ธ Running economy is highly reliable in a fatigued state, a ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ implication for testing durabilityโ€จ
๐Ÿ†“๐Ÿ“„ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

๐Ÿงต1/8

27.05.2025 12:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 6 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Our new durability paper is out in SJMSS!

We tested how endurance performance determinants change after heavy-intensity running (90 and 120 min) in well-trained marathoners.

๐Ÿ“ŒBelow details of what weโ€™ve found.

๐Ÿ†“ Open-Access
๐Ÿ“„ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

๐Ÿงต1/14

19.05.2025 09:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 9 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Excellent morning at the Marathon Medicine conference with some great speakers.

26.04.2025 15:35 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Biomech students are going to have this on repeat to demonstrate the Magnus effect. Iโ€™m not sorry.

08.04.2025 20:36 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Check out this excellent #Review from @benshunter.bsky.social et al., which delves into what we know about and how we approach physiological durability!

physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

31.03.2025 09:27 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Durability as an index of endurance exercise performance: Methodological considerations Endurance athletes routinely complete physiological assessments to predict performance, inform training programmes and monitor subsequent training adaptations. This profiling is typically performed w...

New in @expphysiol.bsky.social from @benshunter.bsky.social et al: Durability as an index of endurance exercise performance: Methodological considerations ๐Ÿ‘‡

physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/...

28.03.2025 13:09 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0