Anaerobic performance in masters athletes

With increasing age, it appears that masters athletes competing in anaerobic events (10–100 s) decline linearly in performance until 70 years of age, after which the rate of decline appears to accelerate. This decline in performance appears strongly related to a decreased anaerobic work capacity, which has been observed in both sedentary and well-trained older individuals. Previously, a number of factors have been suggested to influence anaerobic work capacity including gender, muscle mass, muscle fiber type, muscle fiber size, muscle architecture and strength, substrate availability, efficiency of metabolic pathways, accumulation of reaction products, aerobic energy contribution, heredity, and physical training. The effects of sedentary aging on these factors have been widely discussed within literature. Less data are available on the changes in these factors in masters athletes who have continued to train at high intensities with the aim of participating in competition. The available research has reported that these masters athletes still demonstrate age-related changes in these factors. Specifically, it appears that morphological (decreased muscle mass, type II muscle fiber atrophy), muscle contractile property (decreased rate of force development), and biochemical changes (changes in enzyme activity, decreased lactate production) may explain the decreased anaerobic performance in masters athletes. However, the reduction in anaerobic work capacity and subsequent performance may largely be the result of physiological changes that are an inevitable result of the aging process, although their effects may be minimized by continuing specific high-intensity resistance or sprint training.     

Ageing and maximal physical performance

Elite master athletes with long-term devotion to physical training offer an economical means of investigating the effects of ageing and habitual exercise on maximal physical performance. Ideally, individuals with optimised living habits throughout their lives could serve as a human model of ‘primary’ or ‘inherent’ ageing, where age-related changes are not confounded by sedentary life-style and associated chronic diseases. A limitation of this approach is the selection bias as those with inherently high physical capacity and good health participate in competitive sports. The age-related decrements remain obvious, but the record performances of master athletes competing in running and jumping events are preserved at an extraordinary high level until old age. Similarly, underlying capacities such as muscle strength, power and endurance remain far above the age norms, thus providing superior functional reserves for activities of daily living. Nevertheless, even the best records may overestimate the age decrements. It is obvious that the older champions have never trained and performed as well as the current younger athletes, and that the performance of individual athletes retaining or increasing their training volume and intensity show smaller decrements over the years. The plasticity of individual development is preserved in later life thus making it possible, at least for some time, to modify the age-associated decline in the different aspects of maximal physical performance.     

Competitive sport and aging: the need for qualitative sociological research

The number of older athletes is growing with the aging of populations across the developed world. This article reviews studies from a variety of disciplines that focus specifically on the motives and experiences of older adults competing in physically demanding sports at events such as masters and veterans competitions in Australia or the Senior Olympics in North America. It is shown that the majority of research into this phenomenon has taken a quantitative approach or failed to consider older athletes' experiences in the context of broader sociocultural discourses. Therefore, using the author's research into the experiences of older Australian masters athletes as a catalyst, the need for and strength of sociological qualitative research in this area is discussed. The use of qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews and observations, and interpretive analysis provided alternative ways of making sense of older adults and their relationship with competitive sport to what is typically found in the sport and aging literature.     

Effects of 12 weeks of Nordic Walking and XCO Walking training on the endurance capacity of older adults

Background

Several studies have already examined the positive effects of various forms of endurance training in patient groups and in healthy adults up to 60 years old. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of Nordic Walking (NW) and XCO Walking (XCO) training on endurance capacity in healthy older adults, aged 60 years and older.

Methods

Twenty-three older participants (mean age: 69.9 ± 5.4 years) were randomly assigned to either the NW group or the XCO group. All participants were measured before and after the 12 weeks of endurance training (2 sessions/week) to examine oxygen uptake (VO₂) and energy consumption during an outdoor field test. In addition, heart rates were recorded and lactate samples were collected.

Results

NW mainly demonstrated some significant (p < 0.05) decreases in heart rate, lactate concentration at lower to moderate walking speeds, whereas XCO Walking revealed significant (p < 0.05) decreases in lactate concentration and VO₂ at low to higher walking speeds.

Conclusions

NW as well as XCO training increase the efficiency of the cardio-vascular system in older subjects. Both training approaches are suitable options for endurance training, which may serve to counteract age- and inactivity-related decreases in cardio-vascular functioning as well as aid in maintaining overall performance in older adults.

     

Resistance training induced increase in VO2max in young and older subjects

It is an undeniable fact that resistance training (RT) is a potent stimulus for muscle hypertrophy and strength gain, but it is less understood whether RT can increase maximal aerobic capacity (VO₂max). The purpose of this brief review is to discuss whether or not RT enhances VO₂max in young (20–40 years) and older subjects (>60 years). Only 3 of 17 studies involving young subjects have indicated significant increases in VO₂max following RT, while six of nine studies in older subjects have reported significant improvements in VO₂max following RT. There was a significant negative correlation between the initial VO₂max and RT-induced change in VO₂max. This result suggests that RT-induced increase in VO₂max is dependent upon the subject’s initial VO₂max. The RT-induced increase in VO₂max may be elicited when their initial relative VO₂max is lower than 25 ml/kg/min for older subjects and lower than 40 ml/kg/min for young subjects. Thus, RT can be expected to improve concurrently both muscular and cardiovascular fitnesses within a single mode of RT when young and old persons have initially low fitness levels.     

Testosterone and the brain

Gender differences in spatial recognition, and age-related declines in cognition and mood, point towards testosterone as an important modulator of cerebral functions. Testosterone appears to activate a distributed cortical network, the ventral processing stream, during spatial cognition tasks, and addition of testosterone improves spatial cognition in younger and older hypogonadal men. In addition, reduced testosterone is associated with depressive disorders. The relationship between depression and testosterone appears to partly depend upon the androgen receptor genotype of the patient, and in appropriate patients with low testosterone levels, testosterone substitution can increase positive mood and decrease negative mood. The much publicized link between testosterone and aggression is probably only of importance in athletes who supplement their testosterone levels to excessively high levels, whereas in hypogonadal men, testosterone supplementation only enhances the positive aspects of aggression such as vigour and energy. Current data suggest that testosterone supplementation in hypogonadal men of all ages will enhance many aspects of mood and cognition.     

‘The engine just started coughing!’ — Limits of physical performance,aging and career continuity in elite endurance sports

This research examines male endurance athletes' experience of aging and/or reaching the perceived limits of physical performance. More specifically, the current study aimed to explore how existential meanings attached to these experiences are connected with athletes' decision-making concerning career continuity and retirement. Life story interviews were conducted with 10 Finnish runners and/or orienteers aged between 25 and 62 and the data was analyzed with an existential-narrative framework. Four major storylines related to aging were identified: The end of an era, putting things in perspective, the attitude has to change and winning was never the only motive. Our results suggest that endurance athletes possess diverse ways of bringing meaning to the experience of aging, both confirming and resisting the dominant cultural narrative of decline. While three athletes' stories confirmed the normativity of retirement when unable to improve their results anymore, other athletes demonstrated career continuity and positive aspects in the late career years, such as lack of competitive anxiety, finding perspective and increased enjoyment in running. We suggest that through awareness of alternative narratives, sport psychology consultants may be able to help their clients to explore new meanings in the potentially challenging and beneficial experiences of aging and athletic retirement.     

Age-related effects on the zona glomerulosa cells of the rat adrenal cortex

Zona glomerulosa cells of the rat adrenal cortex were studied at 2, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Adrenals from unstimulated rats were processed for light and electron microscopy and trunk blood was obtained for the assay of plasma renin activity and aldosterone. Similar assays were made in rats stimulated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), 30 min before sacrifice. At light microscopy, no major structural changes were observed; the ultrastructure of most organelles was well preserved and the presence of lipofuscin granules in older animals was remarkable. Acid phosphatase activity was observed in lysosomes and some lipofuscin granules. The quantitative study showed an age-related decrease in cell and nuclear volume (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 respectively) and an increase in volume density of lipid droplets, lipofuscin granules (p < 0.001), lysosomes and Golgi complex; a decrease in volume density of mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (p = 0.052) was also observed. Plasma renin activity and aldosterone level were both reduced (p < 0.001). In stimulated animals, an enhanced aldosterone level was obtained which was higher at 12 months and decreased thereafter. These results show an age-related decrease of aldosterone secretion, consistent with structural and ultrastructural data and related to plasma renin decrement. They also show a decline in the response to aldosterone stimulation by ACTH, indicating a lesser functional ability of zona glomerulosa cells in old animals.     

Does the road to muscle rejuvenation go through Notch?

The capacity of skeletal muscles to repair and regenerate declines during aging in humans, and this decline may lead to muscle loss and frailty. Conboy et al. show that injured muscles of aging mice are defective in Notch signaling, because up-regulation of the Notch ligand, Delta-1, is impaired. Delta-1 promotes proliferation of the satellite cells that repair damaged muscles, and Conboy et al. show that experimental activation of Notch signaling is sufficient to reverse the age-related decline in muscle regenerative capacity. Extension of these important findings to humans could lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches to maintain muscle function during aging.     

Force steadiness in the lower extremities as an independent predictor of functional performance in older women

The relationship between isometric force control and functional performance is unknown. Submaximal steadiness and accuracy were measured during a constant force-matching task at 50% of maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MVC) of the knee extensors in 19 older women (70-89 years). Other variables included MVC, rate of torque development, and EMG activity. Functional performance was assessed during maximal performance of walking endurance, chair rising, and stair climbing. Isometric steadiness (but not accuracy) was found to independently predict chair-rise time and stair-climbing power and explained more variance in these tasks than any other variable. Walking endurance was related to muscle strength but not steadiness. These results suggest that steadiness is an independent predictor of brief, stressful functional-performance tasks in older women with mild functional impairment. Thus, improving steadiness might help reduce functional limitations or disability in older adults.     

The relevance of situation awareness in older adults’ cognitive functioning: a review

Age-related declines in cognition may have detrimental effects on older adults’ ability to complete everyday activities that young- and middle-aged individuals perform automatically. Theories of cognitive aging have found deficits in older adults’ fluid intelligence, capacity for inhibition, number of processing resources, and speed of processing, and in recent years, studies have proposed cognitive strategies to ameliorate these declines. However, few strategies directly train the cognitive strategies necessary to improve performance in dynamic environments and physical activities. One such strategy may be the enhancement of situation awareness, the capability to perceive and understand one’s environment. Although the term has typically been applied to pilots and other expert performers, situation awareness may also be relevant to cognitive aging, where older adults’ perception and comprehension of their environment become critical to everyday functioning and physical activities. If older adults’ situation awareness can be facilitated, then it may be possible to reduce the impact of age-related cognitive declines, allowing older adults to successfully participate in dynamic situations and sports where the environment is constantly changing (e.g., driving and tennis). The following review outlines cognitive deficits in aging, details their relation to situation awareness, and discusses how training in situation awareness may reduce cognitive declines. Portions of this paper were reported at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity in June, 2005.     

Alterations in IGF-I affect elderly: role of physical activity

The growth hormone–insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis is an important physiological regulator muscle for development. Although there is evidence that aging muscle retains the ability to synthesize IGF-I, there is also evidence that aging may be associated with attenuation of the ability of exercise to induce an isoform of IGF-I that promotes satellite cell proliferation. However, it is clear that overexpression of IGF-I in the muscle can protect against age-related sarcopenia. Strength training appears to be the intervention of choice for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. IGF-I has been implicated in the loss of the muscle with age, and IGF-I expression levels change as a consequence of strength training in older adults. However, it seems that advancing age, rather than declining serum levels of IGF-I, appears to be a major determinant of life-time changes in body composition in women and men. We concluded that resistive exercise is a significant determinant of muscle mass and function. Elevated levels of IGF-I have been found in physically active compared to sedentary individuals. Recent work suggests that IGF-I as a mediator plays an important role in muscle hypertrophy and angiogenesis, both of which characterize the anabolic adaptation of muscles to exercise.     

Fitness Profiles and Activity Patterns of Entering College Students

Abstract

Fitness levels of American youth have shown a marked decline in the last decade, according to recent studies. To determine whether such a tendency persists for entering college students, the authors evaluated 115 male and 143 female students for performance on the following fitness-related variables: (1) maximal oxygen consumption (estimated from Astrand cycling protocol), (2) body composition (skin-fold techniques), (3) muscle endurance (sit-up protocol), (4) muscle strength (bench-press protocol), and (5) joint flexibility (upper and lower body protocols).

Although neither men nor women exhibited high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, the women in the study showed higher relative levels than their male counterparts. Both groups showed excellent levels of muscle strength (compared with normative standards), but they achieved only an average standard for muscle endurance. Findings of relatively low levels of cardiovascular fitness compared with levels of muscle strength, particularly in men, seem to be a reflection of an inappropriate concentration of physical activity.     

Gender,academic performance and university athletes

This paper investigates gender differences in academic performance among university athletes at an NCAA Division I school. Using regression analysis, the findings suggest that background scholastic achievement variables and race influence university academic performance for student athletes, but sport participation measures and race are negatively related to university academic performance for males only. The consequences of inequalities between men's and women's athletic programs are explored. Implications for academic programs are discussed.     

Motor-skill learning in older adults—a review of studies on age-related differences

This paper reviews research on motor-skill learning across the life span with particular emphasis on older age. For this purpose, studies that focus on age-related differences in fine and gross motor skills and studies that analyze the further refinement of known skills as well as learning of unknown motor skills are summarized. The reviewed studies suggest that although motor performance tends to decline in old age, learning capabilities remain intact, and older adults are able to achieve considerable performance gains. The extent to which the learning capability varies with age, however, has to be considered very carefully. While most studies revealed that performance gains in fine motor tasks are diminished in older adults, results for gross-motor-skill learning are more contradictory. Additionally, there is considerable agreement on the finding that age-related learning differences are statistically more robust in complex tasks, whereas in low-complexity tasks, the learning of younger and older adults is very similar. This applies to fine and gross motor skills. Relative age differences seem to become enlarged when effortful resources are required for motor performance. Thus, the decline in motor learning that accompanies aging is task specific and not absolute.

A literature review of major perceptual, cognitive, and/or physical test batteries for older drivers

Driving is one of the most complex tasks that humans perform on a regular basis, placing significant demands on human perceptual, cognitive, and motor capabilities, so age-related declines in these capabilities negatively affect driving performance. Although older adults create a risk on the road because of their high crash rates, it is important to note that not all older drivers have impaired driving performance or high crash risk. Thus researchers have developed test batteries to identify at-risk older drivers. The literature pertaining to the development and testing of at-risk driver assessment tools, including major assessment tools and evidence supporting their use is reviewed.     

Effects of physical and mental demands on shoulder muscle fatigue

Mental demands have been associated with increased risk of injuries; however, its influence on muscle fatigability remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of mental workload and physical workload on muscle fatigability during repetitive shoulder work. Twelve young participants, balanced by gender, performed shoulder abduction exercises until exhaustions at three levels of physical workload (low (5% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)), moderate (35% MVC), and high (55% MVC)) in the absence and presence of a mental arithmetic test. Endurance time and rate of strength decline were employed as indicators of muscle fatigue. Concurrent physical and mental processing was found to adversely decrease muscle endurance by ~25% at the moderate intensity level. Furthermore, concurrent demands were associated with faster rate of strength decline compared to the control, irrespective of the physical intensity level. Findings from the current study provide evidence of the adverse effects of mental workload on muscle capacity (i.e., endurance and fatigue). It is therefore important to consider potential changes in worker capacity with concurrent physical and cognitive demands before designing work tasks/products.     

Age-Related Changes in Emotion Recognition: How,Why, and How Much of a Problem?

Isaacowitz and Stanley review age differences in facial emotion recognition, an ability tied to effective socioemotional functioning but often marked by age-related decline. They highlight major findings from the past decade and conclude that age-related declines exist but are least pronounced for positive relative to negative emotions. They discuss possible motivational and structural explanations for this positivity effect, and they describe future research avenues for evaluating age-related differences in more ecologically valid contexts. In this commentary, we discuss each of these topics. We state that many complexities that arise when interpreting age differences are similar to issues raised by emotion scholars who have studied intrapersonal and interpersonal processes outside of the developmental literature. We argue that theoretical and methodological lessons gained from these emotion scholars would provide insight to interpret current findings and direct future research in life-span development.     

Assessing Capacity in the Setting of Self-Neglect: Development of a Novel Screening Tool for Decision-Making Capacity

ABSTRACT

Compared with older adults with disabilities and those who autonomously choose to live in squalor, self-neglect syndrome arises from a predicate state of vulnerability in frail older adults. This state of vulnerability is characteristically associated with a decline in decision-making capacity regarding the ability to care for and protect oneself. We developed the COMP Screen to evaluate vulnerable older adults to identify potential gaps in decision-making capacity using a screening tool. A total of 182 older adults were evaluated and consistent declines in cognitive ability and decision-making processes were present in this population. However, there were no significant differences between elders referred for self-neglect and matched older adults. These findings suggest that declines in decision-making processes are not uncommon in vulnerable older adults but traditional conceptualizations of decision-making capacity may be inadequate for differentiating the capacity for self-care and protection in elders who self-neglect.