The Aging Athlete

What’s going on and what can you do about it?

I spend a lot of time thinking about, no, worrying, about what I’m still capable as I get older.  What should I attempt?  Is my brain writing checks my body can’t cash?

There’s a few things going on in parallel here.

One is that there is not stopping the aging process.  I’m getting older and the older I get the more the aging process affects me. I know it’s a zero sum game that ends in a dirt nap.

But, if I accept that aging process, how do I maximize my descent to get the most out of it?  I still like doing what I do.  I still get out and do stuff that 99% of the population doesn’t.

I guess what bugs me the most is not the inevitability of the process but the uncertainty of what’s happening when.

It’s not well studied.  I think culturally, mine is among the first generations to keep trying to excel at athletics as we age.  I think before people just got to 40 and stopped.  Now we have entire generations of amateur athletes performing well into their 50’s, 60’ and 70’s.  Are there any real barriers?  Or is it all just cultural nuance?

I’ll give you an example.  As I was doing some research I came across something that bothered me.  A commonly quoted statistic is that you loose 10% of your Max Vo2 per decade after you turn 30.

Really?

Let’s say one of the ways I measure my Max Vo2 is by heart efficiency.  How much volume and efficiency I can get out of my heart.   Let’s say my max HR was 180 when I was 29.  That means it’s going to drop to 162 when I’m 30?  145 when I’m 40, 131 when I’m 50 and 118 when ‘m 60?

That’s crazy. Someone doesn’t understand how math works.  If I look at what I’ve actually lost over that time it’s more like 15-20% total.   What about pace?  I’ve lost about a minute a mile over that same period.  Maybe more at shorter distances but not much more.

Something doesn’t add up.

What do you lose when you age?

Max V02 – You do lose Max Vo2.  Your ability to convert oxygen to power over distance and time through effort does drop. Probably not 10% a year.  I don’t think any of this stuff is linear.  I didn’t lose much performance at all until I hit 50.  Then it accelerated.

Strength – You start to lose muscle mass as you age.  Again, I found this process barely noticeable until II got turned 50.  In the last decade I’ve lost maybe 10 pounds of mass from muscles all over my body.

Fast twitch – This one is tricky.  I’m not sure whether it’s a cause or an effect.  As you age you lose that fast twitch muscle.  You can’t hop around and your stride is much less springy.  What I call ‘the pop’.  You lose the pop.  But, you also tend to do fewer activities that require fast twitch muscles.  It may be a use it or lose it scenario.

Flexibility – You definitely get tighter as you get older. Muscles, tendons and all that connective tissue shortens up.   It’s not irreversible, but you have to work at it, whereas when you were younger it just was your normal state.

Recovery – This is the big one for me.  Your body’s ability to bounce back takes longer.  What does that mean.  Well, when I was in my 20’s I could race on beck to back days.  I’d feel it but after I warmed up I’d be fine.  Now, I could still do it but that second day would be cranky from start to finish.

Wear out – Finally there are pieces of the body that just wear out from use over time.  Hips, knees, etc.  This wearing out of parts can be accelerated by overuse and abuse but it’s more likely just a weakness or imbalance that you always had that manifests when you’re out of warranty.

So – that’s what’s going on.  You lose all this stuff at varying rates over time.

While this loss of ability is certain there are two very important things to remember.   First, it’s non-linear.  There isn’t a straight-line loss in any area year over year.  Loss accelerates with age, I think, but it’s never here today gone tomorrow.  It comes in waves.

The second thing is that it is very, very specific to the individual.  Everyone get’s old, but we all know people who seem to defy the aging process, until they don’t.  My knees and hips are good, whereas many of those in my cohort are getting bionic replacements installed.  Everyone is different.

Don’t assume straight lines, averages or rules of thumb.  You don’t know.  Listen to your own body, be present and observant.

Given that we’re all driving down the same highway towards the big offramp, what can we do to counter the effects of aging?

The counter actions seem to address the specific losses.  For Max Vo2 and fast twitch loss the experts recommend including a healthy mount of fast twitch activities in your training.  This is the use it or lose it factor.  Tempo work, HIT training, shorter faster stuff.  Keep pushing your limits and it will keep that loss at bay.

For your strength you need to hit the weights.  Strength training.  Heavier stuff.  Hard effort.  That will slow the muscle loss.  Your body still responds to those challenges by building muscle.

Flexibility? – yup, you guessed it, you have to work your stretching more.  Do your yoga.  Keep those muscles pliable.

Recovery? – Make sure you’re giving you body the rest and fuel it needs to recover.

Which leads to the next problem for aging athletes – time.  If you look at all the stuff you need to do to stave off the aging process you quickly see it’s a full-time job.  Do you really have 4-6 hours a day to stay competitive?

I don’t.

The answer is to do the best you can and try to touch all the bases a couple times a week.

Finally, I’ll leave you with the answer.  The answer is if you think you can you probably can.  If you can’t, so what?  What does it matter?

Keep pushing, keep smiling and ride that beast all the way down.