The endurance athlete faces a paradox-you're going farther and faster, you're feeling stronger, but your bones are getting weaker. New, compelling evidence shows that the very activities that expand our mental and physical abilities may be reducing the durability of our skeletons. In this book, Thomas Whipple, a leading orthopaedic clinical specialist, and Robert Eckhardt, a scientist specializing in the musculoskeletal system, team up to explain how athletes at any level can maintain the delicate balance between endurance exercise and optimum bone health over a lifetime. Translating important scientific advances into accessible language, they explain the muscle-bone connection, and cover training strategies and exercises, nutrition, calcium, stress fractures, rehabilitation, running mechanics, footwear, posture, and pharmaceuticals. An essential guide and ideal text for exercise physiologists, endurance athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and coaches.