Study: Older runners can improve faster Sep. 8, 2004
Provided by: Associated Press
Written by: DIANE SCARPONI
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Runners over age 50 improve their performance
more quickly than younger runners, a Yale study found, reinforcing
past research on older athletes and the benefits they get from
exercise.
"You can maintain a very high performance standard into the sixth or
seventh decade of life," said lead researcher Dr. Peter Jokl. The
16-year study of 415,000 top runners in the New York City Marathon
found that the average times of older age groups improved more than
the average times for younger age groups.
Women aged 50 to 59 showed the greatest improvement, running the
marathon as a group more than two minutes faster each year from 1983
to 1999. Male runners aged 50 to 59 improved about eight seconds each
year.
The study reinforces the notion that many older people grow weaker not
simply because of age, but because they do not use their muscles as
much as they did in their youth, said Jokl, a professor of orthopedics
at the Yale School of Medicine.
Researchers expect older runners will continue to improve over time,
as they try new training techniques and as society increasingly
encourages older people, especially women, to exercise.
You do not have to be a marathoner to see the benefits either, Jokl
and other researchers said. Regular exercise of any kind helps lower
cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure, keeps weight down and
improves mental outlook.
June Norman, 58, of Milford, Conn., said she has seen many benefits
from her exercise regimen.
She has been running for 25 years and tests herself in the New Haven
Road Race each Labour Day. On Monday, she ran the 20-kilometre race
five seconds faster than she did the year before, to finish second in
her age group. Her times overall have stayed about the same since she
hit her 50s.
"I'd be interested to know why. You would think you would get slower
or drop off quickly," Norman said.
She said she trains conservatively to avoid injuries and runs
competitively twice a year for fun.
"I certainly feel a lot healthier than some of my friends," Norman
said. "There is life after menopause."
Norman grew up in an era that discouraged women from exercising.
Sweating or being muscular was thought to be unladylike, noted Daniel
Perry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research, a
non-profit advocacy group in Washington.
"That earlier generation suffered from disapproval. By and large,
femininity was defined as not being active in the playing field,"
Perry said. "Since the 1970s and '80s, girls have been encouraged and
well thought of for being active in sports and exercise."
Even so, while many people know about the benefits of exercise, few
are doing it, Perry said. A survey of baby boomers by the Alliance for
Aging Research found that only a third of people born between 1946 and
1964 exercise regularly.
"The baby boomers are still being a little lazy, particularly the
younger ones," he said.
Dr. Kerry Stewart, who teaches clinical exercise physiology at Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, said the Yale study mirrors findings he
and other researchers have done on the athletic performance of older
people.
A study of exercise training in people 55 and older found they can see
the same amount of improvement in muscle strength, oxygen consumption
and other benefits as people in their 20s and 30s.
"It proves the point that if people remain active, they certainly can
get the full benefits of training," Stewart said.
Jokl's study was published in the August issue of the British Journal
of Sports Medicine.