STUDIES
Want to stay up to date on the latest press releases and news about studies in the running, cycling and triathlon industries? Scroll below to view all endurance sport studies.
December 14, 2025
Is marathon heart damage a myth?
For years, the long-distance running world has had this nagging question hovering over it: are we slowly wearing out our hearts? The worry didn’t come from thin air. After big endurance efforts, some runners show temporary changes on echocardiograms, and some have a spike in a blood marker called troponin—a...
December 8, 2025
Air Pollution Undermines Health Benefits Of Exercise, Evidence Says
Air pollution can undermine some of the health benefits active folks expect to derive from regular exercise, a new study says. The protective effect exercise should have on people’s risk of death was cut by half among those living in areas with heavy air pollution, researchers reported recently in the journal BMC...
December 5, 2025
The Human Advantage: How AI Is Reshaping – Not Replacing – Personal Training
Artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to infrastructure in less than three years. It now shows up in everything from watch faces to workout apps, and it has inevitably raised a question inside our industry: Will AI replace personal trainers? ISSA’s 2025 “Human Advantage” survey of 90 students and graduates, combined...
December 4, 2025
Tonal’s 2025 State of Strength Report Reveals Shorter Workouts, Smarter Training, and a Major Shift Toward Longevity
Tonal, the pioneer of the world’s smartest strength training system and home to the largest strength dataset in the world, today released its 2025 State of Strength Report, revealing how fitness trends are shifting toward shorter, smarter, and more personalized routines that support long-term health. Drawing on data from 32,000* members...
December 4, 2025
Too Many Endurance Athletes Are Racing on Too Few Carbs, Study Finds
It’s well known that big efforts can’t be completed on pure grit alone. This is why most endurance athletes make it a habit of bringing along some fuel for their workouts and races, be it sports drinks, sugary gels, or chewy gummies. Nutrition can keep gas in your tank so...
November 30, 2025
Your marathon brain could be making you sick
Maybe you’ve experienced it: you cross the finish line of your marathon feeling strong, only to wake up a day later with a sore throat and a headache. It turns out the problem might not be the race itself, but everything swirling in your head beforehand. In a study published in the European...
November 17, 2025
Protein Powder Is Under Fire. Experts & Brands React to What It All Means
The protein boom is as strong as ever, but recent news created some doubt as protein powder came under fire in the wake of an explosive Consumer Reports expose. The report, which included results from testing 23 different protein powders and shakes, offered a look into heavy metal contamination across these...
October 30, 2025
Stop Counting Steps—Track Minutes Walking Instead, New Study Says
Tired of your smartwatch reminding you that you haven’t hit 10,000 steps today? It’s time to dismiss the notification. Walking any distance is beneficial for health, even if you don’t reach this popular (but actually, pretty arbitrary) threshold. Outside
October 29, 2025
Digging deep: Marathoners go over a kilometre underground to set world records
A field of 55 runners from 18 countries have just ventured where no marathoners have gone before – 1,120 metres below the Earth’s surface – to complete the World’s Deepest Marathon inside Boliden’s Garpenberg zinc mine in Sweden. And they set two new Guinness World Records in the process in an event...
October 28, 2025
Running out of ‘cool days’ — how climate change is affecting marathons
Apart from causing wide-ranging adverse repercussions, climate change is also affecting sports by rapidly shrinking the window of "cool days" that allow marathon runners to achieve their best performances, posing an increasing challenge for athletes and organisers of the world's premier long-distance races. THEW NEWS
