Det fysiska förfallet går att begränsa till 5 % per årtionde upp till 60 års ålder

[King Grub]

PURPOSE:

This study assessed the cardiorespiratory capacity and running economy of a 59-year-old ex-Olympian athlete who ran a marathon in 2:30:15 in 2019. The athlete retired from running at 32 years old (best marathon performance: 2:13:59) for a 16-year period after his participation at the Olympics.

METHODS:

Heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO2), ventilation (VE), blood lactate concentration (La), step frequency (SF) and running economy (RE) were measured during a treadmill-running test.

RESULTS:

His HRmax, VEmax, Lamax, VO2max were 165 beats.min, 115 l.min, 5.7 mmol.l and 65.4 ml.kg.min, respectively. At his marathon pace, his RE was 210 ml.kg.km with a SF of 199±0.55 s.min and his oxygen uptake corresponded to 91% of his VO2max.

CONCLUSION:

This study shows that despite a 16-year break in training, this 59-year old former Olympian marathoner has managed to limit the age-related decline in performance to ~5% per decade. More generally, these data suggest that high level endurance masters athletes can limit the age-related decline in endurance performance at least until the age of 60 years and can preserve their ability to sustain high intensity effort (> 90% of VO2max) for long duration (2-3h) exercises.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Oct 23. Physiological Profile of a 59-Year-Old Male World Record Holder Marathoner.