Lifelong athletes find that they are unable to hit the tennis or golf balls as hard as they used to, can no longer run as fast or lift as much weight, and they have difficulty performing in any sport. This gradual decline in muscle strength is evident according to a study by Yokohama City University Japan. The most important finding was that men older than 50 can recuperate from intense workouts just as fast as those younger.Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, June 2006). The University of Southern California, Los Angeles has published another encouraging study that shows men older than 60 are much more fit if they exercise.
Brock University, Canada’s University of Brock has found that people older than 50 can still recover as fast from intense exercise as children.Exercise and Sports Science ReviewsJuly 2006 According to the authors, previous research on this subject is flawed. Children cannot exercise as intensely as adults, so they don’t put the same stress on their muscle as those over 50. Therefore, children do not experience as much damage to their muscles. Children seem to be able to recuperate faster after intense exercise due to the reduced intensity. A child can only exert 60 to 80 percent as much power for each pound of weight as an adult. Their blood streams have less lactic acid, so they don’t work as hard in intense training. Because they don’t lift as much as adult weight, children can lift heavier weights more often. You can do it more “attempted all out”Wind sprints are more common in adults than they do for adults because they work less at their peak. Therefore, the decrease in athletic performance due to ageing is not due failure to recover from intense exercise.
An older competitor in sport will not be as able to recuperate as young athletes. However, they will lose their speed, coordination, and strength.
Your body’s muscles are made up of many millions of different fibers. Every fiber can be energized by one nerve, which causes it to contract. As you age, nerve fibers become less important. Each loss of nerve fiber results in a decrease of muscle function and strength. Because nerve fibers are lost, coordination also suffers. Speed is dependent on strength.
Regular exercise can help to increase each individual muscle fiber. Even if there are fewer functional fibers, more power can be generated by larger single fibers.
These studies show that training principles can be applied at all ages. Even if your abilities are not that of younger competitors, it is possible to win age-group competitions over those who can. You don’t have to be a regular runner to begin exercising.