Romuald Lepers1, Bastien Bontemps, Julien Louis2. 1. INSERM UMR1093, CAPS, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, FRANCE. 2. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UNITED KINGDOM.
Abstract
PURPOSE: This study assessed the cardiorespiratory capacity and running economy (RE) of a 59-yr-old ex-Olympian athlete who ran a marathon in 2:30:15 in 2019. The athlete retired from running at 32 yr old (best marathon performance: 2:13:59) for a 16-yr period after his participation at the Olympics. METHODS: Heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (V˙O2), ventilation (VE), blood lactate concentration (La), step frequency, and RE were measured during a treadmill-running test. RESULTS: His HRmax, VEmax, Lamax, and V˙O2max were 165 bpm, 115 L·min, 5.7 mmol·L, and 65.4 mL·kg·min, respectively. At his marathon pace, his RE was 210 mL·kg·min with a step frequency of 199 ± 0.55 s·min, and his V˙O2 corresponded to 91% of his V˙O2max. CONCLUSION: This study shows that despite a 16-yr break in training, this 59-yr-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 yr and can preserve their ability to sustain high-intensity effort (>90% of V˙O2max) for long-duration (2-3 h) exercises.
PURPOSE: This study assessed the cardiorespiratory capacity and running economy (RE) of a 59-yr-old ex-Olympian athlete who ran a marathon in 2:30:15 in 2019. The athlete retired from running at 32 yr old (best marathon performance: 2:13:59) for a 16-yr period after his participation at the Olympics. METHODS: Heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (V˙O2), ventilation (VE), blood lactate concentration (La), step frequency, and RE were measured during a treadmill-running test. RESULTS: His HRmax, VEmax, Lamax, and V˙O2max were 165 bpm, 115 L·min, 5.7 mmol·L, and 65.4 mL·kg·min, respectively. At his marathon pace, his RE was 210 mL·kg·min with a step frequency of 199 ± 0.55 s·min, and his V˙O2 corresponded to 91% of his V˙O2max. CONCLUSION: This study shows that despite a 16-yr break in training, this 59-yr-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 yr and can preserve their ability to sustain high-intensity effort (>90% of V˙O2max) for long-duration (2-3 h) exercises.
Authors: Johannes Burtscher; Barbara Strasser; Martin Burtscher; Gregoire P Millet Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-03 Impact factor: 4.614