Skip to main content

Getting older......

Here is a good one for those of us who are getting older. I'm 40 now - which used to seem old but now doesn't! Anyway this study looked at older cyclists (old? over 35 isn't old!) . It seems that as you age, exercise might make you more sore and give you greater feelings of fatigue.....but your performance might not be affected. You feel worse, but your performances may not similarly decline.

Altered perception and report of fatigue and recovery in veteran athletes.


AIM: This study investigated whether ageing effects perceived and reported ratings of fatigue and total quality of recovery following high-intensity training in athletes. We hypothesized that veteran (V) athletes would report greater changes in perceived measures of fatigue and recovery than training-matched younger athletes.
METHODS: Perceptions of muscle soreness (SOR), fatigue, and recovery were recorded in young (Y) and V (>35 years) well-trained cyclists in response to 3 days of repeated cycling time trials. Nine Y (24+/-5 years) and 9 V (45+/-6 years) cyclists performed 3 consecutive days (T1-T3) of 30-min cycling time trials (TT30) intended to induce fatigue leading to decreased performance. Physiological and performance variables were measured before, during, and after each time trial. Subjective measures of SOR, fatigue, and recovery were recorded each day.
RESULTS: There was no change in performance at the TT30 from T1 to T3 for either group. SOR, fatigue, and recovery significantly changed over the 3 days in the V group, but not in the Y group. The change in SOR from T1 to T3 was significantly greater in the V group than in the Y group (22+/-14 mm vs 9+/-12 mm, respectively; P=0.04).
CONCLUSION: It was concluded that 3 days of cycling time trials induce perceptions of muscle pain/SOR, fatigue and reduced recovery in well-trained V cyclists with no corresponding decline in physical performance.
Labels:

Comments

Rannoch Donald said…
Age is just a number! You should read the following article from Best Life. Whilst we may not all be world class athletes with the luxuries of time and money we can all learn to train and recover using optimal methods. And that is the key. Find protocols that work and deliver the biggest bang and stick to them. Our need for novelty can easily short circuit our efforts.

As for 35 being old? It's not even "older"!

http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/The_Science_Riding_the_Storm.shtml
April 24, 2008 at 2:34 AM
Chris said…
That is a great article Rannoch, inspiring stuff.

I like one of the ideas there - that things that hit your performance as you age are often social and psychological factors rather than physical ones. Also thought the concept of your "peak" being a plateau comprised of physical and non-physical elements - e.g. skill, enthusiasm, etc - was helpfultoo.

Looked like you had fun in the Links last night - I saw the crowd as I was walking home.
April 24, 2008 at 3:15 AM
Rannoch Donald said…
Last night was fun. But here's the interesting thing. I took a show of hands of those who go to the gym or train beyond their MA class. Alot of hands went up. I then asked who could do 50 press ups. No hands. So we had a go and only 1 person could do it. Now, most of these guys are half my age and still think they are bullet proof, but they failed at the most basic test of strength and muscle endurance. What does their training consist of???

Sorry to bang the drum again but if the fundamentals aren't covered you will be weak.

Anyway, preaching to the converted here!

All the best

Rannoch
April 24, 2008 at 4:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dry January

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was taking part in "Dry January".  I didn't make a big song and dance about it, but I decided to go for a calendar month or so with no alcohol.  A few people have asked me about my experience, so here are a few points. Why take a break from drinking? Alcohol is an interesting topic.  As a drug it is widely accepted in society, central to so much of our socialising and leisure.  There seem to be lots of health benefits - so we are told - yet there are also a lot of problems in terms of health, relationships and lifestyle that come from drinking. Over a few years I'd begun to become aware and then concerned that I was drinking too much and too regularly.  I am in a busy and stressful job and sometimes a glass of wine after work to relax is really helpful.  But over time, one glass became two.  Two glasses became ....I might as well finish the bottle.  A habit got established....and was starting to get too e...
7 comments
Read more

So where have I been?

You will have noticed that this blog has been quiet for a while....  There are a few reasons for that, reasons that I thought I'd list here: WORK -  my day job has been incredibly busy and stressful this year. Working 10-14 hour days the last thing on my mind when I got home was putting something on here.  FACEBOOK/TWITTER - I suppose I've been using other channels to do some of what I used to do here. Quick fire posts pointing to interesting studies or news etc tend to get posted to Twitter (@chrishighcock) or to the Facebook Hillfit group http://www.facebook.com/groups/263083947097000/  REASSESSMENT - I've found myself less comfortable with some of the positions I've taken in the past. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by some of the things I've promoted. I'm not Paleo or low carb. I think Tabata and intervals are misunderstood and misapplied. I cannot really claim to be HIT.   I find myselfunable  honestly to post things on here and pretend that I am some sort o...
12 comments
Read more

Taking up space for a brief update

I've a couple of posts in draft that I will get up soon -  an update / reflection on Dry January and some thoughts on the scheduling benefits of short workouts if your life is busy.  Before that though, I am pointing to something else. However, I wanted to highlight something that is coming this weekend that I've been involved in.   Amber Rogers (Gokaleo and author of Taking Up Space ) has been pulling together a bundle of books from various authors with a common theme, one that I've been pushing here recently.   Keep it simple, avoid the hype, be patient, be consistent and flee the gurus.   I've talked before about how we get obsessed with pushing for more and more, when enough is OK.  I've given my view that so much of the health and fitness internet world is more like a gnostic religion than something that will benefit your life. There are other voices out there saying similar things and I'll be pointing to a bundle of books later this week ...
1 comment
Read more