High Performance Aging

By Tiffany Gust, MS, USA Triathlon, CISSN

With the right approach, older runners, cyclists, pickleball players, and many other types of athletes can maintain or even increase their performance levels over time. It was once thought that this was not possible. Let’s learn more about the aging athlete’s body to understand how this can now be a reality.

Age and Its Effect on Physical Performance

As the body ages, a steady decline in maximal exercise capacity and the ability to recover properly is going to take place; we know that the body is designed to do this. However, we now know what is going on with the body and why these changes occur.

The primary decline of maximal exercise capacity occurs due to a decrease in cardiorespiratory (heart, lung, and circulation) function and a reduction in muscle mass.

Studies have shown that your maximum oxygen uptake capacity declines by about 1 percent per year. Muscle mass is also impacted. The mass of fast-twitch muscle fibers is greatest in your thirties. After thispeak point, there is a decline in power of 3 percent per year, which eventually slows down to a decline of around 1 percent per year for both men and women alike.

Training itself can slow down the agerelated decline in fitness. A 2001 study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society compared the decline in aerobic fitness of forty-two healthy, vigorously training, middle-aged older athletes (average age: sixty-four) and forty-seven healthy, sedentary men of comparable age over an eight-year period. The study concluded that the athletes who continued to train vigorously had no significant decline in their maximum oxygen uptake.

We also know that you don’t have to train vigorously to get results. The concept of “use it or lose it” rings true. With athletes and older adults, it’s important to assess the deficits (we all have them) and then build a program that is customized and addresses the individual’s needs. If a masters athlete has been engaging in one sport for many years, they may have overactive and underactive muscles that can increase their chance for injury as they age.

Maintaining good health and fitness is probably the most important goal to keep in mind. Balance, mobility, muscular strength, and endurance along with flexibility should be the focus. Both muscle mass and strength can be preserved with lifelong physical activity and a program that is customized and tailored to current needs. An assessment can help determine areas that may need more work and areas in which the athlete is excelling that can be enhanced. Then the gap of where you are and where you want to be can be closed in a safe, structured manner.

Declines in performance are inevitable, but the rate of decline may be much slower than once believed. Ongoing research continues to support the theory that we can all make gains, reap great health benefits, and maintain a high level of fitness over the age of forty, fifty, sixty, and beyond. Never let your age stop you from pursuing greater athletic goals.

Our High-Performance Aging Program

With evidence-based interventions, aging doesn’t have to equate to decreased performance. The Sports Performance training program at Intermountain Health is designed to promote successful aging, injury reduction, and enhanced performance. Call 435-251-3733 or email tiffany.gust@imail.org to find out more. Go out and chase your dreams. Aging is just a state of mind!