NEWS⁄MIND⁄BODY ⁄SOLE
GUT
REACTION
At the upper limits of human
endurance – think Ironman,
ultra-marathons and the
Tour de France – much
is made of the power of
the mind: conquer your
thoughts, some say, and
anything is possible. Butnew research has put pay to
the idea that our endurance
knows no bounds, with a
study from Duke University
suggesting that no matter
what the activity, everyone
hits the same metabolic
limit: a maximum possible
level of exertion that
humans can sustain in
the long term. Whether
an athlete is competing
for days, weeks or even
months, researchers found
humans can only burn
calories at 2.5 times their
resting metabolic rate.
"There's just a limit to how
many calories our guts
can effectively absorb per
day," said study co-author
Herman Pontzer.
PhotographyShutterstock