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Generally, total energy expenditure is expected to be higher in individuals with greater physical activity. However, the constrained total energy expenditure model suggests that greater energy expenditure during exercise may be offset by lower energy expenditure during other activities or physiological processes, thereby maintaining total energy expenditure within a relatively limited range. It is unclear whether similar patterns occur in athletes engaged in long-term endurance training.

Furthermore, although amenorrhea is sometimes observed among female runners, it is not well understood whether the components of total energy expenditure differ between amenorrheic and non-amenorrheic runners. Therefore, a study by researchers at University of Tsukuba compared total energy expenditure and its components in female runners with and without amenorrhea and assessed their associations with weekly running distance.

The work is published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

The study found that total energy expenditure and its components were similar in amenorrheic and non-amenorrheic runners. Furthermore, although longer weekly running distance was associated with greater energy expenditure during exercise, total energy expenditure was not associated with running distance.

Runners covering longer distances tended to expend less energy during non-exercise activities, as reflected by lower non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Resting and sleeping metabolic rates were also negatively associated with running distance, although these associations weakened after adjusting for fat-free and fat mass.

Collectively, these findings suggest that greater training volumes may be accompanied by differences in energy expenditure distribution across exercise, daily activities, and resting metabolism.

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