Master Athletes Are Extending the Limits of Human Endurance

Abstract

The increased participation of master athletes (i.e., >40 years old) in endurance and ultra-endurance events (>6 h duration) over the past few decades has been accompanied by an improvement in their performances at a much faster rate than their younger counterparts. Aging does however result in a decrease in overall endurance performance. Such age-related declines in performance depend upon the modes of locomotion, event duration, and gender of the participant. For example, smaller age-related declines in cycling performance than in running and swimming have been documented. The relative stability of gender differences observed across the ages suggests that the age-related declines in physiological function did not differ between males and females. Among the main physiological determinants of endurance performance, the maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max) appears to be the parameter that is most altered by age. Exercise economy and the exercise intensity at which a high fraction of VO_2max can be sustained (i.e., lactate threshold), seem to decline to a lesser extent with advancing age. The ability to maintain a high exercise-training stimulus with advancing age is emerging as the single most important means of limiting the rate of decline in endurance performance. By constantly extending the limits of (ultra)-endurance, master athletes therefore represent an important insight into the ability of humans to maintain physical performance and physiological function with advancing age.

Keywords: aging; cycling; marathon; masters; performance; swimming; triathlon; ultra-endurance.

Figure 1

Changes in performance ratio for total time at the Hawaii Ironman triathlon across the years for best male and female master triathletes. A performance ratio equal to 1 corresponds to the performance of the top10 elite triathletes (<40 years old). Solid lines represent conditions where the slopes of the linear regressions were significantly different (P < 0.01) from zero. Dashed lines indicate the slopes of the linear regressions were not significantly different from zero. Lines cross only the range of years for which data were considered.

Figure 2

Physiological mechanisms implicated in the age-related decline in endurance exercise performance. A double arrow expresses a main influence.