M11 Active Older Adults: Masters Athletes

masters athlete

an older adult who continues to train and compete in organized sports

• usually refers to athletes who are 35 years or older, though the exact age cutoff can vary by sport (some start at 30, others at 40 or 50

Fauja Singh

the case of Mr Singh

• believes his long life and good health come from a few key lifestyle factors

• 1. diet

• 2. supportive social circle

• 3. later start

diet

• Ate fresh, homemade food

• Kept portions small (almost child-sized)

• Practiced restricted food intake

• May support the metabolic hypothesis (less strain on the body = slower aging

supportive social circle

• Surrounded by people who encouraged healthy eating

• Social support helped him stay motivated to be physically active

• Emotional and practical support improved overall well-being

later start

• Took up competitive running later in life

• Proved you don’t need to be active your whole life to start competing

• Shows it’s never too late to improve health and fitness

contradictions in reports of PA

self-reported and objectively measured habitual PA declines as people get older

• however, masters sports and athletics has rapidly increased in recent decades

Dionigi et al 2011

Purpose

• Aimed to explore what older adults competing in sport perceive as the benefits of competition (benefits that go beyond the normal outcomes of general PA)

Goal

• Understand how competition in later life might provide unique psychosocial, motivational, and social benefits

Dionigi et al methods

Design

• Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and participant observation of older competitive athletes

Participants

• 44 older athletes (21 male, 23 female) age 56-90 years of age

• Masters-level athletes

Data Collection

• Interviews asking about what they gained from competing in sport, what competition meant for them, what benefits they percieved

Analysis

• Qualitative content analysis (constant comparative method) to identify key themes from the interview data

Dionigi et al results

Five major themes emerged

1. Enjoyment of challenge

2. Opportunity to begin sport later in life

3. Competitions are a means to set training goals

4. Allows for self-comparison with others

5. Travel and companionship

motives to continue training

some motivations to continue training for masters athletes (from Coaching Association of Canada):

• 59.9% of runners highlighted “personal challenge and achievement”

• 61.1% of throwers highlighted “enjoyment/satisfaction experienced in sport”

• 65.7% of swimmers highlighted “fitness”

growing field

masters sport is a growing global field; can look at an sport and see a pattern where there are few older athletes and each year, more and more get involved in mass-competition

• World Rowing Masters Regatta

  • 1973 (Vienna) → 700 rowers from 10 countries

    • 2003 → 3000 rowers from 40 countries

• World Masters Championships

  • 1975 (Toronto) → 1400+ participants

    • 2024 (Gothenburg) → 8000+ participants from 111 countries

Ida Keeling

observations from the case of Ida Keeling:

• differences b/w masters athlete environments and “real” competitive environments

  • # of participants is generally less

  • co-ed races instead of separate races (instead of not having a race, combine them)

• similarities

  • big crowds

  • similar amount of supporting staff, coaches, etc to big competitive events

Lepers and Stapley 2016

Purpose

• examine how performance of athletes in endurance sports provide insight into the limits of human physiological performance and the effects of aging on endurance capacity

Goal

• determine whether age-related declines in endurance are inevitable or whether training and continued participation allow older athletes to maintain exceptionally high performance levels

Lepers and Stapley methods

Design

• Narrative review with quantitative analysis of historical performance data

Data Sources

• Official race results and world records from master athletes across endurance events:

  • Marathon running

  • Ultra-endurance running

  • Cycling

  • Swimming

  • Triathlon

Analysis

• Compared performance times across age groups

• Examined how world records and best performances change with advancing age

• Analyzed trends in participation and performance progression over decades

Lepers and Stapley results

relative to top-performance from an individual under 40

• endurance generally declines with age:

  • decline is relatively modest until ~50-60 years where it becomes steeper

    • 40-44 years old is most closely in line with performance of the individual under 40

    • 65-69 years is the least

• modern master athletes are achieving faster times than previous generations, suggesting improvements in training, nutrition, equipment, and sports science support

Lepers and Stapley results

• Aging does not automatically equate to frailty or severe physical decline.

• Lifestyle factors, especially lifelong or sustained training, play a major role in determining functional capacity.

• The limits of human endurance are dynamic rather than fixed.

• Master athletes challenge traditional assumptions about aging by demonstrating what is possible when physical activity is maintained across the lifesp

improved performance in masters athletes

Why Has Performance Improved in Masters Athletes?

Performance gains in masters athletes can be attributed to several key developments:

1. Enhanced physical conditioning and structured training

2. Improved nutritional strategies supporting recovery and performance

3. Larger participation pool, increasing competition and raising performance standards

4. Greater access to specialized training facilities

5. Growth of masters-specific coaching expertise

6. More advanced, evidence-based training methods

Karen Gold

the case of Karen Gold

• training for 4 × 800 m at Canadian Masers Athletics Chmapionships

• didn’t participate in sports at school

  • former athletic friend encouraged her to train

• some younger athletes at the university marginalized her

  • “moving too slow, we need the space”

age related decline in performance

derived from Lepers and Stepley 2016

• Rate of decline:
  Depending on the sport or activity, performance typically decreases by ~8–15% per decade with advancing age.

• Physiological driver:
  VO₂max declines by approximately 10% per decade, contributing significantly to reduced endurance and overall performance.

• Influence of sex:
  Although absolute performance differs, sex differences remain relatively consistent across aging, meaning both men and women experience similar proportional declines.

• Influence of exercise type:
  The rate of decline varies by activity and is influenced by movement economy (efficiency of effort), with some sports showing slower performance loss than others.

• Psychological impact:
  This natural decline can be discouraging for former elite athletes, particularly when comparing current performance to their younger peak.

mechanisms of reduced VO2 max with age

aging

• decreased training volume and intensity

  • central factors

    • decreased maximal cardiac output

    • decreased maximal HR

    • decreased maximal SV

  • peripheral factors

    • decreased maximal arteriovenous O2 difference

      • decreased maximal O2 delivery

      • decreased O2 extraction

      • decreased muscle mass

central and peripheral factors

decreases in these two factors result in an overall decrease in VO2 max and endurance exercise performance as well as:

• training volume and intensity: decreased lactate threshold

• decreased muscle mass (peripheral): decreased exercise economy

Burtscher et al 2022

Purpose

• investigate how much of the decline in CR fitness often measured as VO2_max in aging master endurance athletes is due to aging itself vs changes in training habits (volume/intensity) over time

Burtscher et al methods

Design

• Narrative review + quantitative synthesis (regression analyses)

Data sources

• peer reviewed studies w/ longitudinal data on VO_2max and training load (e.g. weekly mileage, training volume in masters athletes

Analysis

• authors calculated how much of the variance in VO_2max decline across decades could be statistically explained by changes in training volume (rather than age alone) using multiple-linear regression

Burtscher et al results

as you dec training, greater rate of change in VO₂max

• For men, about 54% of the drop in VO₂max could be explained by how much their training changed (doing less mileage, fewer sessions, lower intensity, etc.). — variance

• For women, about 39% of the drop in VO₂max was explained by changes in training volume. — variance

resuming training after a break could largely reverse these losses in aerobic capacity and mitochondrial function

• older adults regain VO₂max faster per unit of time once they restart training, compared to younger adults

slow and fast components

when someone detrains or retrains (starts again) fitness changes happen in two phases

• fast component (early, rapid changes)

  • happens within a few days to weeks

• slow component

  • happens within weeks to months

fast component

During detraining:

Rapid losses mainly due to cardiovascular changes:

• ↓ Plasma volume

• ↓ Stroke volume

• ↓ Cardiac output

• ↓ Blood volume

• ↓ VO₂max (can drop noticeably in 2–3 weeks)

These changes are largely functional and reversible.

During training reuptake:

Fast improvements occur because:

• Blood volume increases

• Stroke volume rebounds

• Oxygen delivery improves quickly

this is why VO₂max can rise sharply in the first weeks of retraining

slow component

During detraining:

Slower declines linked to structural changes:

• ↓ Mitochondrial density

• ↓ Oxidative enzyme activity

• ↓ Capillary density

• Loss of muscle oxidative capacity

During training reuptake:

Gradual rebuilding of:

• Mitochondrial content

• Muscle fiber adaptations

• Capillary networks

• Metabolic efficiency

these changes are more durable but take longer to develop

prior training and response to retraining

🔴 Red line: Older person who was trained, then stopped (detrained)

🔵 Blue line: Older person who was never trained

Both decline in VO₂max with age, but their response to training reuptake looks different

blue line

(never trained) jumps more

blue person starts from a much lower baseline VO₂max because they were never trained.

so when they begin training:

• Even small physiological improvements create a large % increase

• This appears as a steep “fast component” jump on the graph

red line

The red person already:

• Developed cardiovascular adaptations in the past

• Has some retained structural adaptations (capillaries, cardiac remodeling, muscle oxidative capacity)

When they detrain:

• VO₂max drops, but not to true “untrained” levels

• Some adaptations persist (muscle memory effect)

So when they resume training:

• There is less low-hanging fruit to regain

• The body is closer to its trained ceiling

• Therefore, the fast improvement phase is smaller

This is why the red line’s “fast component” looks blunted compared to blue

Fick Equation and response to retraining

separating VO₂max into its two main physiological components using the Fick Equation:

VO₂ = Q_max x (a-v)O₂difference

Across the top:

• Detraining (left column)

• Training / retraining (right column)

Down the side:

• Maximal cardiac output (top row)

• Arterio-venous O₂ difference (bottom row)

Fick Equation quadrants

1⃣ Detraining + Maximal Cardiac Output (top left)

2⃣ Training + Maximal Cardiac Output (top right)

3⃣ Detraining + a-v O₂ difference (bottom left)

4⃣ Training + a-v O₂ difference (bottom right)

Detraining + Maximal Cardiac Output

This changes quickly when training stops:

• Plasma volume falls fast

• Stroke volume drops
  ➡ Rapid fall in cardiac output
  ✅ This is the fast decline component

Training + Maximal Cardiac Output

When training resumes:

• Blood volume increases quickly

• Stroke volume rebounds
  ➡ Rapid rise in cardiac output
  ✅ This is the fast improvement component

Detraining + a-vO2 difference

This declines slowly because it reflects structural muscle changes:

• Mitochondria decrease gradually

• Capillary density reduces over time
  ✅ This is the slow decline component

Training + a-v O₂ difference

When training resumes:

• Muscle oxidative capacity rebuilds slowly

• Oxygen extraction improves gradually
  ✅ This is the slow improvement component

Burtscher et al conclusion

• two phases

• training implications

• role of body composition and nutrition

two phases

VO₂max in older ET athletes shows a two-phase decline:

• Rapid component:
  Short-term decreases linked to reductions in maximal cardiac output (e.g., stroke volume, plasma volume).

• Slow component:
  Gradual, long-term reductions driven by peripheral changes such as decreased muscle oxidative capacity and mitochondrial function.

training implications

• Potentially different strategies for HIIT:
  Older athletes may require modified HIIT prescriptions to balance performance gains with recovery capacity and injury risk.

• Intensity matters for VO₂max gains:

  • A high-intensity stimulus is crucial to improve VO₂max in older ET athletes.

  • Lower-intensity training helps maintain cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) but is generally insufficient for significant VO₂max increases.

role of body composition and nutrition

• Lean body mass preservation is important for sustaining aerobic performance and metabolic function with age.

• Adequate nutrition (especially sufficient protein and energy intake) supports:

  • Muscle maintenance

  • Recovery

  • Adaptation to high-intensity training

minimize risk of injury

to reduce injury risk, training should focus on both preparation and progression

1. improve physical capacity

2. use proper technique

3. wear appropriate footwear and gear

4. progress gradually

5. vary training

6. include warm-ups and cool-downs

improve physical capacity

Build agility, aerobic fitness, and strength/power to enhance joint stability and movement control

use proper technique

Correct form reduces unnecessary strain and compensatory movement patterns

wear appropriate footwear and gear

Proper equipment supports biomechanics and lowers impact-related stress

progress gradually

Increase intensity and duration slowly to allow tissues time to adapt

vary training

Avoid overuse by changing routines and not overloading one activity type

include warm ups and cool downs

Warm-ups prepare muscles and joints for activity

• Cool-downs aid recovery and flexibility

Laurie Nelson

the case of Dr Laurie Nelson

• perceptions

  • negative perceptions of old age

  • bad knee, bad for

  • not really “athletic” in high school but an “athletic energetic person” who never really got the opportunity to participate

  • “CrossFit was for elite athletes”

• CrossFit

  • very drastic changes during training

  • noticed improvements in strength, ADLs

  • realized you don’t have to enter an endurance competition or marathon to engage in CrossFit

Charles Eugster

the case of Charles Eugster, 96 years old

• perceptions

  • noticed body “deteriorating”

    • appearance/loss of muscle mass convinced him to engage in PA

• PA

  • tried weight training initially, didn’t seem to enjoy it

  • tried a body building club + personal trainer

    • external support and having measurable progress allowed him to succeed

resistance training and older athletes

resistance training plays a critical role in maintaining and improving athletic performance in older athletes

• machines and free weights

• home-based training

• resistance bands

• body weight exercise

machines and free weights

Structured load progression

Targets specific muscle groups

home based training

Accessible and flexible options

resistance bands

Low-impact, joint-friendly

Adjustable intensity

body weight exercises

Functional movements (e.g., squats, step-ups, push-ups)

Enhances balance and control

resistance training and self efficacy

Resistance training performed 3x/week at both:

• High intensity (~75–85% 1RM)

• Moderate intensity (~55–65% 1RM)
  led to significant improvements in muscle strength and increased physical self-efficacy in older adults
  (Tsutsumi et al., 1997)

self efficacy

Why Self-Efficacy Matters
Higher physical self-efficacy is strongly associated with:

• Greater motivation

• Improved confidence in physical ability

• Better long-term adherence to physical activity
  (Neupert et al., 2009)

Hoffman et al 2021

Purpose

• examine whether long-term resistance training leads to harmful changes in cardiac structure or function in Masters athletes

Hoffman et al methods

Participants: Masters athletes across three disciplines

• Sprinters

• Endurance runners

• Throwers (chronic resistance-trained)

Assessment Tools:

• Transthoracic echocardiography

• Doppler imaging

Cardiac Measures:

• Intraventricular septum thickness

• Left ventricular (LV) wall thickness

• LV end-diastolic diameter

• LV mass

• Early/late diastolic filling

• Ejection fraction

Hoffman et al results

Chronic RT is NOT harmful to the heart

• Throwers (RT athletes) showed:

  • Greater intraventricular septal thickness than sprinters

  • Trend toward greater thickness than endurance athletes
    → Indicates sport-specific cardiac remodeling, not pathology

• Endurance athletes and sprinters had:

  • Greater LV end-diastolic volume relative to body surface area compared to throwers
    → Reflects aerobic adaptation

• No diastolic dysfunction was observed in ANY athlete group
  → Normal cardiac function maintained across all disciplines

Toien et al 2023

Purpose

• Examine how life-long strength vs. endurance training affects muscle fiber composition (particularly fast-twitch Type II fibers), signs of denervation (or re-innervation), and muscle quality in older men

Goal

• Test whether strength-trained master athletes preserve Type II fiber distribution and avoid age-related muscle deterioration better than endurance-trained or recreationally active older adults

Toien et al methods

• Participants: Older men over age 65 — grouped as:

  • Strength-trained master athletes (OS) (e.g. weightlifters, powerlifters)

  • Endurance-trained master athletes (OE) (e.g. long-distance runners)

  • Recreationally active older controls (OC)

  • Young habitually active reference group (YC, <30 yrs) for baseline comparison. Find Researcher+1

• Measurements:

  • Muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis (thigh muscle)

  • Immunofluorescent staining: to assess fiber-type distribution (Type I vs Type II), fiber type grouping, and presence of atrophic fibers (i.e. small/denervated) Find Researcher+1

  • Functional tests: maximal leg-press strength and Rate of Force Development (RFD)

Toien et al results

• Type II fiber preservation: Strength-trained older men (OS) had ~ 52% Type II fiber distribution — nearly identical to the young reference (YC ~ 51%) despite their advanced age. Find Researcher+1

• No increased atrophy or denervation in strength-trained group: OS showed minimal atrophic fibers (~0.2%) — comparable to young controls (~0.1%). Find Researcher+1

• Functional performance preserved: OS exhibited leg-press strength and RFD similar to the young reference, indicating maintained capacity for powerful, rapid muscle contractions. Find Researcher+1

• Endurance-trained and recreational older adults fared worse: OE and OC groups had fewer Type II fibers, more fiber type grouping (a sign of denervation/re-innervation), and higher prevalence of atrophic fibers than OS and YC

Toien et al discussion

• The authors argue that life-long strength training appears to counteract age-related loss of fast-twitch (Type II) fibers and neuromuscular deterioration, preserving both muscle morphology and functional capacity similar to that of young adult

• They suggest that high contractile force generation (as in strength training) helps maintain neural innervation of large, fast motor units, avoiding the denervation and atrophy typical of aging muscle

• By contrast, high-volume endurance training or general activity does not seem sufficient to preserve Type II fibers or rapid force capacity with age.

• The authors caution that because the study is cross-sectional (not longitudinal), it cannot definitively prove cause (i.e. whether individuals with better-preserved muscles self-selected into strength training).

neurophysiological adaptatios

from Toien et al 2023

• Strength-trained older adults demonstrated:

  • Greater maximal strength

  • Higher rate of force development (RFD)
    compared to older endurance-trained and non-trained individuals.

• Chronic strength training (ST) was associated with:

  • Increased central descending motor drive
    → Indicates enhanced neural activation from the brain to the muscles.

• Chronic endurance training (ET) was associated with:

  • Greater H-reflex excitability during low-force contractions
    → Suggests adaptations more related to reflex control than maximal force production.

age vs training effects

from Toien et al 2023

• Younger, training-matched participants still showed:

  • Higher overall performance levels

  • Despite significant adaptations in older athletes

• Important insight:
  The age-related decline in performance occurs at a similar rate in athletes and non-athletes
  (Tanaka & Seals, 2008)
  → Training improves absolute capacity, but does not fully eliminate biological aging effects.