Fitness for the older athlete?

[Q mystic]

Anybody know of any good info sites on the effects of fitness in regards to age? Like how much stamina or strength declines over age in a fit individual. Thanks.

[VampireMonk]

checkout Yoga stuff man.

[mixicus]

Depends on what you want. Try WebMD for reader friendly articles. Medscape is a good portal for scientific journals. If you are interested in really old populations, look at the genrontology journals. You can also check out books used in 'Fitness for Life' classes at a local college (usually an upper level ExPhys/Kines class for general ed). You do have to be careful of the studies as many look at a total adult population. Meaning the average decrease in fitness shown includes people who do not train or lead an active life styles. There is a point that fitness decreases even in a training population but it occurs later and with much less severity than in a non-training/active group.

Another interesting comparison is to look to the result/records for masters events. Here's some selected ones:

AGE Swimming 2005 LC Nationals Track& Field Records
200M Free 400M Free 400M 5K Shotput
35-39 1.56 4.20 46.38 13.26 22.19M
45-49 2.04 4.23 50.20 15.12 16.83M
55-59 2.08 4.25 52.24 16.22 16.06M
min.sec min.sec seconds seconds meters

NASA
Men's 220
Division Squat Lbs Bench Press Lbs Deadlift Lbs
30-39 501.55 275.58 468.48
40-49 534.62 325.18 446.43
50-59 473.99 330.69 553.35

[Miles Leach]

Yes the best thing for fitness for older people is swimming...also yoga is good

[Girljock]

Ummm...what is "older"?

[colinm]

Originally Posted by mixicus

AGE Swimming 2005 LC Nationals Track& Field Records
200M Free 400M Free 400M 5K Shotput
35-39 1.56 4.20 46.38 13.26 22.19M
45-49 2.04 4.23 50.20 15.12 16.83M
55-59 2.08 4.25 52.24 16.22 16.06M
min.sec min.sec seconds seconds meters

NASA
Men's 220
Division Squat Lbs Bench Press Lbs Deadlift Lbs
30-39 501.55 275.58 468.48
40-49 534.62 325.18 446.43
50-59 473.99 330.69 553.35

holy shit! look at the old guys go. that is awesome.