#science

Articles tagged: science

132 articles

Creatine without training: 1.1 kg more lean mass in 12 weeks in 45–65-year-olds β€” and how much of it may be water

Creatine without training: 1.1 kg more lean mass in 12 weeks in 45–65-year-olds β€” and how much of it may be water

In a double-blind RCT from Texas A&M University, 10 grams of creatine a day added about a kilogram of lean mass and a little strength in people aged 45–65, even without training. We look at why the no-training groups had just 13 people each, what DXA counts as β€œmuscle”, how creatine skews the creatinine blood test, and what a masters runner should take from it.

nutritionsupplementshealth
Anna Severovaβ€’
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Garmin bought Moxy: what a muscle oxygen sensor really measures β€” up to Β±20 points between legs and a threshold that repeats to within 7 watts

Garmin bought Moxy: what a muscle oxygen sensor really measures β€” up to Β±20 points between legs and a threshold that repeats to within 7 watts

Without a press release, Garmin bought Moxy β€” the longest-standing maker of muscle oxygen saturation (SmOβ‚‚) sensors β€” and back in February filed an application for the Muscle Battery trademark. We explain what SmOβ‚‚ shows, why the absolute number is noisy by 14–18 points, and how the threshold from the trend reproduces from test to test within a few watts.

geartrainingcycling
Ekaterina Gromovaβ€’
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Pickle juice for cramps: 49 seconds shorter in the lab, zero change in the blood β€” what we know about the shots McDonald's handed out before the Chicago Marathon

Pickle juice for cramps: 49 seconds shorter in the lab, zero change in the blood β€” what we know about the shots McDonald's handed out before the Chicago Marathon

Before the Chicago Marathon McDonald's gave away free 60 ml bottles of pickle juice, and at IRONSTAR Sirius, a Russian triathlon series, coach Suren's team handed out brine with and without vinegar in random order for a study. We look at what is known: a reflex in the mouth rather than β€œtopping up salt”, a fresh meta-analysis of cramp risk factors, and how much pickle juice to drink.

runningtriathloninjury-prevention
Dmitry Volkovβ€’
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Heart rate in your earbuds: AirPods Pro 3 vs a chest strap β€” a 2-beat average error and Β±10 at high intensity

Heart rate in your earbuds: AirPods Pro 3 vs a chest strap β€” a 2-beat average error and Β±10 at high intensity

Irish researchers compared the heart rate sensor in AirPods Pro 3 with a Polar H10 chest strap in 40 participants and 16 735 paired readings. The average error was about 2 beats with no systematic bias, but at high intensity individual readings drift by Β±10. We look at which workouts the earbuds are good enough for.

runninggearheart-rate
Maxim Belyaevβ€’
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Troponin after a marathon: 69 studies, 3274 runners and a blood test that β€œsees a heart attack” in a healthy person

Troponin after a marathon: 69 studies, 3274 runners and a blood test that β€œsees a heart attack” in a healthy person

A meta-analysis from Amsterdam brings together everything known about the heart in the first day after a marathon. Troponin and NT-proBNP rise in every study and on average cross clinical thresholds, the right ventricle dilates, yet MRI finds no signs of damage. We look at what this means and when to see a doctor.

runningmarathonhealth
Ekaterina Gromovaβ€’
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Maximum heart rate: β€œ220 minus age” underestimates it on average in endurance athletes β€” data from 4375 people and how to find yours

Maximum heart rate: β€œ220 minus age” underestimates it on average in endurance athletes β€” data from 4375 people and how to find yours

Stephen Seiler's group compared the real maximum heart rate of 4375 runners, cyclists and triathletes with the formulas. On average the formulas err low by nearly 5–6 beats, and for some individuals by 15–20. We look at how to determine your maximum in the field and why a lab test can miss it too.

runningcyclingheart-rate
Olga Marchenkoβ€’
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Caffeine gum: 25 studies, an effect size of 0.195 and exactly zero in people who already drink a lot of coffee

Caffeine gum: 25 studies, an effect size of 0.195 and exactly zero in people who already drink a lot of coffee

Caffeine gum is leaving its military niche and moving into running, and interest in it keeps growing. A meta-analysis published in September 2026 gathered 25 studies and 390 participants: the gain is real, it is statistically significant and it is also tiny. And in some people it is absent altogether β€” we look at who exactly, and at why you have to chew for ten minutes.

nutritionsupplementsscience
Ekaterina Gromovaβ€’
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Runner's knee: 188 marathon runners, the Q-angle and hip exercises that turned out to be no better than standard care

Runner's knee: 188 marathon runners, the Q-angle and hip exercises that turned out to be no better than standard care

Pain under the kneecap is the most common running injury, and the standard answer to it goes like this: β€œweak glutes, train the hip, the Q-angle will correct itself”. A study published in September 2026 compared exactly such a programme with standard care in 188 marathon runners: over 16 weeks both groups improved, and no difference between them was found. Here is what a runner should take from that.

injury-preventionrunningscience
Dmitry Volkovβ€’
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Heel spur and plantar fasciitis: 63 RCTs, 4,170 people and a ranking of the treatments that really take the pain away

Heel spur and plantar fasciitis: 63 RCTs, 4,170 people and a ranking of the treatments that really take the pain away

Heel pain is one of the most searched-for running problems, even though the bony outgrowth behind the popular name turns up in a third of people whose heels never hurt. A 2026 network meta-analysis compared seven treatments for plantar fasciitis not with placebo one by one but with each other β€” and it turned out that each has its own horizon: one works for the first month, another for a year. Here is where a runner should start.

injury-preventionhealthscience
Olga Marchenkoβ€’
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The runner's high: anandamide rises every 14 kilometres of a marathon, and after 230 kilometres there is no euphoria left

The runner's high: anandamide rises every 14 kilometres of a marathon, and after 230 kilometres there is no euphoria left

A 2026 field study followed the β€œrunner's high” across a whole marathon for the first time: 19 runners gave blood every 14 km, and another 36 ultrarunners before and after races of 100, 160 and 230 km. Anandamide rose all the way, anxiety fell β€” but after the ultras euphoria did not rise at all. And endorphins, it seems, have nothing to do with any of it.

sciencerunninghealth
Anna Severovaβ€’
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SARMs in recreational athletes: a five-year ban for three substances, and only 52% of products that contain what the label says

SARMs in recreational athletes: a five-year ban for three substances, and only 52% of products that contain what the label says

On 11 September 2026 USADA handed a five-year ban to a 49-year-old recreational triathlete: a sample taken at an ordinary city race contained ostarine, ligandrol and exogenous testosterone. A good moment to work out what SARMs are, why nobody has ever shown an effect of theirs on endurance, and how they end up inside people who never deliberately took anything.

supplementshealthscience
Maxim Belyaevβ€’
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Carnosine: 299 participants, 12 weeks at 2 grams a day and two significant results out of 126 comparisons

Carnosine: 299 participants, 12 weeks at 2 grams a day and two significant results out of 126 comparisons

Carnosine is a dipeptide that buffers acid in muscle; it and beta-alanine are sold as supplements to fight β€œacid build-up”. The largest RCT to date (JISSN, 2026) found no difference from placebo in any of seven tests across the whole group. An effect surfaced in only two subgroups. We explain why that is weaker than it sounds, and what beta-alanine does that carnosine does not.

nutritionsupplementsscience
Ekaterina Gromovaβ€’
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Hydrogel carbohydrates: 2.1% faster over 5 km in runners, zero gain in cyclists β€” what alginate really does

Hydrogel carbohydrates: 2.1% faster over 5 km in runners, zero gain in cyclists β€” what alginate really does

On 6 September the Russian runner Rinas Akhmadeev dropped out of his marathon debut after reaching halfway in 1:04:08 β€” because of gut problems; by his own account, his fuelling did not sit well. Hydrogel is sold as the answer to exactly this problem. A 2026 systematic review pulled together nine RCTs: carbohydrate oxidation rises at high doses and the stomach sometimes copes better, but only one running study showed a clear performance gain.

nutritionsciencerunning
Dmitry Volkovβ€’
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Meniscus after a marathon: +38% extrusion on ultrasound in 100 runners and a return to normal by day four

Meniscus after a marathon: +38% extrusion on ultrasound in 100 runners and a return to normal by day four

Orthopaedic surgeons from Hokkaido University scanned the knees of 100 amateur runners before the start, right after the finish and on each of the next five days. The medial meniscus shifted outwards by an average of 0.44 mm, stayed there for three days and was back in place on the fourth. The shift was larger in runners who were heavier, ran more and loaded the inner side of the knee harder.

runningmarathoninjury-prevention
Maxim Belyaevβ€’
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Paraxanthine instead of caffeine: what 14 rowers and 12 runners revealed about the β€œclean stimulant” made from a coffee metabolite

Paraxanthine instead of caffeine: what 14 rowers and 12 runners revealed about the β€œclean stimulant” made from a coffee metabolite

The liver turns about 70% of caffeine into paraxanthine, and now it is sold on its own β€” as a stimulant without the insomnia and jitters. In a 2026 RCT in rowers, paraxanthine by itself did not speed up a 2000 m test, and in a 2024 study of a 10 km run it did not change finishing time at all. It disrupted sleep after an evening session less β€” but that was measured with a questionnaire.

nutritionsupplementsscience
Andrey Leskovβ€’
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Body Battery, Recovery, Readiness: 14 β€œreadiness scores” from 10 brands β€” and not a single published formula

Body Battery, Recovery, Readiness: 14 β€œreadiness scores” from 10 brands β€” and not a single published formula

In May Google released the Fitbit Air, a screenless band whose headline number is β€œreadiness”. Garmin, WHOOP, Oura, Polar and Coros all have similar indices. A 2025 review found 14 such scores from 10 manufacturers: none disclosed its formula, and only a handful showed validation against a reference standard. Some of the raw data underneath them, however, is measured quite well.

recoverysciencetraining
Anna Severovaβ€’
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Your watch lies by kilometres: eight GPS models, a 3.2–6.1% error, and why the forest is β€œshorter” and the track is β€œlonger”

Your watch lies by kilometres: eight GPS models, a 3.2–6.1% error, and why the forest is β€œshorter” and the track is β€œlonger”

The same long run: you have 32 km, your partner has 29. A look at validation studies of sport watches: up to 9% under-reading in the city and the forest, systematic over-reading on the track, a 12.1% error for the worst model over 4,000 m, and where the extra three kilometres come from when there are no satellites.

runninggeartraining
Ekaterina Gromovaβ€’
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