Adult age trends in athletic performances.

Aged trends in male, world record, track and field performances were examined over the 40-69 years age range. Five hypotheses were compared with respect to accuracy of prediction of differential age trends across events. The only hypothesis to yield statistically significant predictions was termed that of energy expenditure-supply ratio. This hypothesis predicts performance changes with age to exhibit steeper overall declines for events for events associated with higher maximal force transmissions, relative to the available (anaerobic or aerobic) energy supply.