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Age and Athleticism
A Comparison of Physiological to Chronological Age
It has been found that that age tells little about
your health, your appearance, or ability to perform.
Chronological age isn’t the predictor of health
or performance.
Performance in work or sport is a function of
physiological age,
not chronological age.
The single best measure of physiological age, known to
Sport Medicine, is the aerobic fitness score (V02max).
It gives information about health and
capacity of the respiratory, circulatory, and muscular systems.
It inversely relates aerobic fitness to risk
factors
Thus a 55-year-old may have the health and performance
capability of the average 25- to 30-year-old.
3
Other factors of physiological age include family
history, health habits, measure of blood pressure and cholesterol; and measures
of strength, reaction
time, vision, and hearing.
It has been well documented that slowing the aging process comes from the
physiological benefits of regular exercise, and that
they are fairly certain
that persons who are more physically active live longer than those who are
sedentary.
The physiological factors that contribute to a
“sustained youthfulness” are body composition, cardiovascular function, and
muscles and nerves.
Lean body mass is needed for physical performance and
consists of muscle, skin, bone, and the internal organs.
It has been found that regular physical
exercise can increase the muscle mass regardless of age.
Case studies have shown the percent body fat of
a trained 70-year-old can match that of a
19- to 25-year-old and even maintain the same lean body mass of a younger
athlete.
1
Loss of muscle mass is called sarcopenia and results from loss of muscle fibers
and fiber atrophy, due to lack of use.
People who use their strength regularly
can retain their muscle function.
Another energy system that is studied is called
anaerobic capacity,
the ability to provide energy to the muscles without the use of oxygen using the
process of glycolysis.
The anaerobic system can be maintained through
lifelong training, and in a study swimmers aged 46 to 56+ did not differ from
25-
to 35- year-old swimmers in their ability to produce and remove lactic acid.
Maintenance of muscle mass, especially
fast-twitch fiber, maintain the
anaerobic system and can be achieved by training at higher intensities.
Some feel that Swimming is the closest thing on earth
to the perfect sport, since it exercises all the major muscles of the body.
.. When you exercise aerobically, your lungs actually increase in size,
capacity, and efficiency.
Your heart becomes more powerful, more fit
with exercise, just like any other muscle. Your blood
vessels actually
increase in number, and they may even become more
flexible, thereby
forestalling any tendency toward arteriosclerosis.
Some studies also indicate
that aerobic exercise reduces the cholesterol levels
in the blood overall,
and that it may alter the cholesterol that is found in
the blood to a less
dangerous type.
Other aerobic benefits include lower blood
pressure,
improved digestion, a clearer complexion, and
generally increased alertness ..
2
A
research specialist at Western Illinois University has called swimming the
“Fountain of Youth”. “You can slow
down and even help reverse the aging process
if you follow a regular, year-round fitness program.”
References
1.
Goldstein, Mel and Tanner, Dave, Swimming Past 50, (Human
Kinetics), 1999.
2. Katz, Jane (with Bruning, Nancy
P.) Swimming for Total Fitness, 2 ed., Doubleday, 1993.
3. Sharkey, Brian J. (and Gaskill,
Steven E.) Fitness & Health, 6th Ed., University of Montana/Human
Kinetics, 2007.