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A comparative study: tongue muscle performance in weightlifters and runners
- notacoward 8y agoI can only think of one activity where tongue endurance is important, and I guess it's good that runners come out ahead in that department.
- clishem 8y agoActually, the weightlifters were better in some regards.
- SketchySeaBeast 8y ago> Finally, TE [tongue endurance] was overall significantly greater in runners than in weightlifters (P = 0.001). I'm assuming you're not trying to move a heavy weight, so the runners probably take an advantage.
- notacoward 8y agoWeightlifters had greater tongue strength, for which I can't think of a benefit, but runners had greater endurance.
- clishem 8y agoStrength is actually very important if you read Taoist sexual kung fu practices, they even had exercises for tongue strength specifically.
- Eric_WVGG 8y agoI can think of another — sleeping. A doctor named Mike Ilkes published a book claiming that snoring is mostly caused by weak muscles in the tongue, soft palate, and lower throat, and can be cured through simple exercise. I can't vouch for the veracity of his claims yet, but ask me again in a few months… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/simple-workout-will-stop-snoring-improve-sleep/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/simple-worko...
- audiolion 8y agoIm overweight and snore as a result, or have sleep apnea or whatever. Tongue Endurance might okay a small role but its not helping me. I am a beatboxer and consistently train my tongue and muscles around the throat.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- curiositydriven 8y agoJokes aside, this is actually a very interesting study. We all know that physical characteristics are developed specifically by different activities (endurance for runners, strength for weightlifters). But I think most people would think this is due to local effects at the level of the muscle or specific neural circuits for different movements. This study suggests that a more general physical adaptation is at play, since the tongue isn't involved in running or weightlifting.
- SketchySeaBeast 8y agoYeah, this is neat. I suppose it does make sense - running is going to have an effect on the whole cardiovascular system, the legs being just a part of that, and weightlifting will affect the whole of the CNS's ability to recruit muscle fibers, so it does stand to reason their would be systemic changes. The body becomes better in totality at what it practices, and it's neat to see evidence of this.
- ahi 8y agoThere may also be some self-selection when it comes to people who choose to be weightlifters or runners. Tongue strength differences may be a genetic correlation with particular body types rather than a result of training.
- mr_overalls 8y agoExactly what I was thinking. Did the study control for genetic effects? The study compared "weightlifters" and "runners" - people who have presumably already been pursuing the activity for some time, instead of of being randomly assigned to such an experimental condition. So we might expect that genetically stronger people (with stronger tongues) would gravitate toward weightlifting, with the same trend for self-identified "runners" and endurance.
- notacoward 8y agoIt's not entirely true that the tongue isn't involved, because of breathing patterns. If differential tongue strength/endurance is just an incidental effect of different breathing patterns, I'm not sure there's much further to go with this.
- Fricken 8y agoInteresting results. Just last night I read an article about training for rock climbing that suggested cutting back on intensive cardio routines outside of climbing if you're having trouble making strength gains, and I went to sleep last night wondering how much merit there is to the claim, since I'm both a cyclist and a climber. Anecdotally, when cycling in the city it's usually shorter rides with high intensity hill climbs and sprints, but after an 18 hour, 300km ride in the country last summer, it took me weeks to get that climbing/sprinting power back, that one big ride made me substantially weaker.
- lj3 8y agoYou can still do cardio and maintain muscle mass. Sprinting is better than running miles and miles. But, if you want to run marathons or triathlons, google "alex viada the Hybrid Athlete." He's a bodybuilder who maintains his muscle mass and strength while also doing triathlons. He has a background in biochemistry and works in pharmaceuticals. At least he used to. I'm not sure if he still does.
- tcoff91 8y agoGiven his background in body building and pharma, I would bet he is using PEDs to be able to be a hybrid athlete.
- ahi 8y agoBased on a google image search I think that's a safe assumption. Still impressive though.
- girvo 8y agoI’d agree. The people I know who can reasonably simply be a “hybrid” are those who use various anabolic steroids, SARMs, and peptides, the latter two bring more interesting for this case as various ones target, say, joint damage and help repair them
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- psychometry 8y agoPotential confounders abound. I'll wait for the randomized experiment...
- frodo3212 8y agoIt would be interesting to see how muscle development faired and progressed with musicians. Opera singers, specifically. I can't think of another subset of the population who have explicitly geared themselves toward using these small muscles in ways which require both strength and endurance. An opera singers' entire musculature is geared toward natural, acoustic amplification, and their use of the tongue to manipulate acoustics via vowel sounds would make an insightful corollary study.
- vibrio 8y agoMost wind instruments require pretty unique tongue actions for 'punctuation' of music. I can speak for the potential for trumpet to be pretty grueling on both lips and tongue for pieces that are rapid, staccato and/or long.
- runamok 8y agoI think the whole point of this study was to see how muscles reacted to that were unrelated to those trained by the athlete's sport. I suppose it would be interesting but would be a bit like comparing runners and weightlifters to sedentary people. In fact I think that group would be better for control...
- InGodsName 8y agoI am a runner and i play Hindustani flute. I also use a technique called tonging. Good to know that i can perform a song which heavily depends on tonguing.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- bunderbunder 8y agoCue Mark Abrahams: "The medicine priiize. . . "
- wiredfool 8y agoI think this is right up the Ignobel's alley.
- crb002 8y agoROFL. "Iowa Oral Performance Instrument". Those cunning linguists at University of Iowa need an IG Nobel.
- jwtorres 8y agoSimilar concept: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/well/move/exercise-sports-injury-arm-leg-broken-strain-sprain.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/well/move/exercise-sports...
- robertsd247 8y agoWomen are the best judges of tongue muscle performance. Redundant study is redundant.
- mikestew 8y agoObvious punchlines are obvious. Yeah, sure, we were all thinking it. That's why the rest of us felt it unnecessary to say it out loud.
- totalperspectiv 8y agoFrom the viewpoint of the endocrine system and how the body reacts the different type of stresses you put on it, this makes perfect sense. A stressor in the form of a heavy weight is going to induce a different hormonal response than a stressor in the form of a long run. A hormonal response won't localize to just the muscle groups involved, but affect everything, so even your tongue gets some degree of adaptation to the stressor. Bodies are awesome.
- dzdt 8y agoI don't find any mention of screening for steroid use. My understanding is that steroid use is much more common in weightlifting than running. I would have expected them to rule that out as an alternative cause of the effects they are measuring.
- aznpwnzor 8y agoThis makes a lot of sense. A lot of muscle strength / endurance is learned, meaning the gains are realized through motor cortex changes rather than muscle changes.
- julius_set 8y agoOr it could just be a side effect of weightlifters / bodybuilders eating more than normal people and thus “working out” their tongue more?