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RESEARCH NEWS
Preserving muscle mass into old age
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, in America, have worked with competitive runners, cyclists and swimmers aged from 40 to 81 to see if a vigorous exercise programme can preserve lean muscle mass.
Taking part in the study were five men and five women representing four age groups: 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70-plus. All were fit, training four or five times a week and competing frequently. Several had won their age groups in recent races.
They completed questionnaires detailing their health and weekly physical activities. Researchers then measured their muscle mass, leg
strength and body composition, determining how much of their body and, more specifically, their muscle tissue was composed of fat. Other studies have found that as people age, they not only lose muscle, but the tissue that remains can become infiltrated with fat, degrading its quality and reducing its strength.
However, there was little evidence of deterioration in the older athletes’ musculature. The athletes in their 70s and 80s had almost as much thigh muscle mass as the athletes in their 40s, with minor if any fat infiltration. The athletes also remained strong. There was, as scientists noted, a drop-off in leg muscle strength around age 60 in both men and women. They weren’t as strong as the 50-year-olds, but
the differential was not huge, and little additional decline followed. The 70- and 80-year- old athletes were about as strong as those in their 60s.
“We think these are very encouraging results,” said Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon and founder of the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who oversaw the study. “They suggest strongly that people don’t have to lose muscle mass and function as they grow older. The changes that we’ve assumed were due to aging and therefore were unstoppable seem actually to be caused by inactivity. And that can be changed.” http://1.usa.gov/s0LNX3
Tricking the brain is key to endurance
Deceiving the brain can lead to an improvement of up to five per cent in sporting performance, according to research from Northumbria University.
In a research project, trained cyclists were asked to race against an avatar on a computer screen which they believed was moving at the rate of the cyclist’s personal best.
However, the avatar was actually going at a speed one per cent faster than the cyclist’s fastest time. Despite this, the cyclists, who could also see themselves as an avatar cycling the virtual course, were able to match their opponent, going faster than they ever had before.
Researchers believe this is because there is a reserve of energy production that can be tapped into, even in well-trained athletes.
Professor Kevin Thompson, Head of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Northumbria University, who carried out the research along with PhD student Mark Stone, said: “We feel that
this system is conservative and even in well-trained individuals, who have a well developed pacing template, there is a reserve of energy production which can be utilised to further enhance performance.”
He added: “These findings demonstrate a metabolic reserve exists which, if it can be accessed, can release a performance improvement of between two and five per cent in terms of their average power output.”
The study found that adding a competitive opponent to motivate participants to access this reserve was not effective when the participant was aware that their opponent was exercising at a power output 2% or 5% greater, but was effective when participants did not know.
Prof Thompson added: “We believe a small deception of the brain can enhance performance. Despite the internal feedback to the brain being heightened by the extra power output being produced, the participants still believed it was possible to beat their opponent.” http://bit.ly/uRhfFe
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