|
Cardio-respiratory Fitness
Why do people lose their energy, endurance and stamina and wind up feeling tired and lethargic as they age?
After the age of 20, our heart's ability to pump blood and our muscle's ability to extract oxygen from that blood decreases in both healthy men & women by a rate of 1% per year.
Source: Journal of Applied Physiology
Decreases in cardio-respiratory fitness are due to both inactivity and weight gain, as well as to an "aging" effect, all of which affects endurance performance.
Body Composition
What contributes to the increase in body fat with age?
A decrease in physical activity more than an increase in caloric intake is responsible for the increase in body fat with age.
Source: Handbook of Physiology
Vigorous exercise is associated with a stable body weight as one ages.
Muscular Strength and Endurance
At what age does muscular strength begin to decline?
At age 50 when it falls at the rate of 15% per decade, with a more rapid decrease of 30% after age 70.
Source: Exercise in Sport Sciences Reviews
The loss of strength is related directly to a loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia). Maintenance of muscle mass is important, not only for our ability to carry out daily activities but because it is linked to our resting metabolic rate and the risk of type II diabetes and hypertension.
Flexibility
Why is it important to have the ability to move a joint through its normal range of motion?
It is an important factor in one's ability to carry out activities of daily living and maintain independent living well into old age, as well as reducing the risk of low back pain.
Source: American College of Sports Medicine
Joint motion is influenced by the condition of the muscle, connective, and cartilage tissues associated with the joint. In general the increase in collagen cross-linkages in tendons and ligaments and the degradation of articular cartilage contribute to the reduction in joint range of motion with age.
|
