Okay, it’s time to put the aging myth to rest. There are a lot of athletes who “hang up” their bats, spikes, skates, etc. because they’re getting older. They insist that age has taken its toll on them, and that they are no longer able to perform at a high level. Well, the bad news (for them) is that they’re wrong. The good news is that high level performances are definitely available to those of us who are master athletes.

Consider this: if you were the tender age of 20 when Fitness and Speed Skating Times published its inaugural issue, you’re now 31 years old - a master athlete by many sports organizations’ standards! So what can you expect as time marches on? Lots of changes; some are good, some are not so good. In The Master Skater, we’ll examine some of them.

Oh, The Possibilities!

First of all, let’s take a quick look at what’s “possible” by taking a peek at some incredible performances by master athletes. At 43, Michael Secrest (www.TheGuyOnTheBike.com) broke three world records in 24 hours of cycling, shattering the previous marks. At 38, Sandy Snakenberg broke the 24-hour world record (www.FaSST.com/articles/feb2000/world-records.htm) for inline skating. At the age of 37, Mark Allen won the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon for his 6th time.

These performances point to the capabilities of master athletes. Of course, the first impression of many people to these citations is that they are anomalies. To get a broader perspective of the athletic capabilities of athletes as they age, let’s take a look at a cross-section of performances of athletes who go “all out” during their sports event. This event encompasses speed and endurance without undue focus on technique, so the concept of performance here can be applied to inline or ice skating. The event is an Ironman Triathlon.

The goal of an Ironman Triathlon (swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles) is to perform each event consecutively and without any rest, as fast as possible without assistance from drafting (during the bike - which, we as skaters know, is very helpful). That means that athletes who compete in the Ironman Triathlon are pushing themselves to the limit of their capabilities, without regard for inter-competitor strategy, tactics or support from others - it’s a pure test of “what they can do.”

An example, the Great Floridian Triathlon (held in Clermont, Florida in October of each year) lists its age-group records as such:

Ages	Male Record	Female Record
18-24	9:40:08	11:50:43
25-29	9:28:22	10:57:27
30-34	9:16:20	10:39:03
35-39	9:54:33	11:22:58
40-44	10:00:51	11:25:16
45-49	10:16:01	11:59:37

As they say, "a picture is worth 1,000 words" and so here's a picture:

As you can see, the 30-34 age group records are actually the fastest, and the best performances for the 45-49 age group are not much different from those of the 18-24 age group (much to the delight of those of us who are 40+ years old now)! In fact, the 40-44 female best time is faster than the female 18-24 best performance. What does this tell us? That potentially, very high level performances in the 30-49 age groups are possible; that all is not lost once you hit the big “3-0”... there is still hope!

Physiologic/Biomechanic/Mental Considerations

At any age, there are a number of areas that combine to create a good athletic performance. Among the most important areas are:

1. Physiology - VO₂, Lactate Threshold
2. Biomechanics - Efficiency, Equipment
3. Mental - Preparation, Strategy/Tactics

Since these areas include factors that are quite diverse, let’s take a look at the first one; see how each of the factors listed under that area is affected by aging; and find out what we can do to combat the negative effects.

Physiology

VO₂: Oxygen consumption

Typically we as sports scientists look at maximal oxygen consumption (Max VO₂) to give an idea of how much work an individual can perform. Maximal oxygen consumption is a measure of the amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize/consume per minute. It is measured in either milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass (ml/kg/min), or in liters of oxygen per minute (l/min). A person with a higher Max VO₂ can typically do more work than a person with a lower Max VO₂. One of the goals of training is to be able to do more work, and we use Max VO₂ as one measure of how effective a training program is for a person.

Max VO₂ is influenced by a variety of factors, including a person’s physical size, maximum heart rate, stroke volume, blood volume, muscle capillary density, and mitochondrial density. As each of these factors increases, VO₂ increases (in the case of increasing physical size, the increase in VO₂ is typically seen in only the absolute max VO₂ [measured in l/ min], not relative max VO₂ [measured in ml/kg/ min]). If you have a basic understanding of oxygen consumption, the effects of changes to the factors listed above should make sense logically, even if you’re not well versed in each term. Simply, if you are able to pump more oxygen-laden blood to the working muscle that is able to use it, your Max VO₂ increases.

Since age has a negative effect on at least one factor (maximum heart rate - MHR - which typically declines approximately 1 beat-per-minute for each year of advancing age), we can ascertain that maximal oxygen consumption should decrease with age. If MHR was the only factor that changed this would be true, but since the other factors can be changed with training, by increasing them, the change in VO₂ brought about by a reduction in MHR can be offset to a large degree, if not completely. Appropriate training can increase a person’s physical size, stroke volume, blood volume, muscle capillary density and mitochondrial density. While one single factor, increasing blood volume through training, contributes largely to improving performance and can be enhanced with as little as one week of training (thereby increasing stroke volume), the other factors contribute as well.

So we know that training to improve the other contributors to VO₂ can improve our Max VO₂, but there is another factor; a potentially more important factor in determining performance. This physiology-based factor in performance is consistently overlooked by athletes, coaches and researchers once they get on the “get a higher Max VO₂” bandwagon). This factor is the Lactate Threshold.

Remember when I stated that an individual with a higher Max VO₂ can typically do more work than a person with a lower Max VO₂? I intentionally left that statement open for clarification by using “typically.” In many cases, someone with a higher VO₂ will not be able to out-perform a "lower-rater", because, as I love to say, “It ain’t what you got, it’s what you do with it.” This is not simply a bad-grammar excuse that people use to feel better about the fact that they don’t have much; it has its basis in fact.

Here's an example: Let’s say that athlete A (Joe) has a Max VO₂ of 60 ml/kg/min (60 milliliters oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute) and athlete B (Mike) has a Max VO₂ of 55 ml/kg/min. On the basis of Max VO₂ alone, you would suspect that Joe would be able to out-perform Mike because Mike’s VO₂ is almost 10% lower than Joe’s.

Yet, if Joe’s Lactate Threshold - the point at which lactic acid begins to accumulate as a result of a mismatching of blood flow/oxygen supply to the ability of the mitochondria to do their job (as well as other biochemical adaptations that occur with appropriate training) - is reached at 65% of his Max VO₂, and Mike’s Lactate Threshold is reached at 78% of his Max VO₂, Joe will be able to work continuously at a VO₂ of 39 ml/kg/min (60 ml/kg/ min x 65%), while Mike can work at a VO₂ of 42.9 ml/kg/min (55 ml/kg/min x 78%). In effect, Mike can work at a VO₂ that is 10% higher than Joe's sustainable VO₂. Remember that famous saying, “It ain’t what you got, it’s what you do with it.” Although Joe has a higher Max VO₂, his sustainable VO₂ is lower due to Mike’s higher Lactate Threshold.

Here's another example of the proverbial, "a picture is worth 1,000 words":

Of course, even with a higher sustainable VO₂, Mike is not guaranteed success when competing against Joe. There are other factors - biomechanics, efficiency, equipment, strategy, preparation, etc. But all other factors being equal, Mike would have an edge over Joe by virtue of being able to use more of what he has; which he acquired through training.

But back to aging. Does Lactate Threshold change with aging? It can; if training intensity and volume are reduced. And given the results of some longitudinal studies on performance (which examined a non-invasive marker of LT), it appears that it can be maintained by sustaining training volume and intensity.

What does all of this have to do with being a master athlete? Well, two key components to achieving results in training are consistency and persistence. And guess who is typically consistent and persistent? You guessed it - master athletes. Advancing age can bring with it benefits, a few of which are the character traits of patience, understanding, and focus. These characteristics all lend themselves to being consistent and persistent in training.

As a master athlete, when you have a goal, you are more likely to visualize that goal, focus on achieving it, and set a course to attain it now, vs. when you were younger. Of course, this is not universal, but if you consider the responsibilities of a typical master athlete (career, family, maintaining a home, financial responsibility, etc.), you can see how planning to meet the demands of life in general are analogous to planning for the demands of training. And the added bonus of doing something “for yourself” can make training for performance even more rewarding, when you have so many other “heavy” responsibilities.

Combat the Aging Process

So how do we offset some of the deleterious effects of aging on physiology? Attack each factor individually, then combine the attack plan into a training program. And that is precisely what many master athletes do, without even knowing it. The good news is that there are no “secret” techniques needed to train as you age. (Sorry, folks - it’s still hard work.) But diligent training will get you where you want to go.

To improve your Max VO₂, you need to follow the basic principles found in any primer on exercise training for your sport - and always keep in mind the activity/muscles used, as well as the time spent in competition as the most basic factors. Specificity of training states that you should train for your sport by performing the sport, or activities which very closely mimic your sport. In the case of inline or ice skating, there are a few activities which closely mimic the movements of the sports -- cycling is one activity; cross-country skiing is another (using the proper technique). Using either of these sports to supplant your training will help relieve boredom, add some variety/excitement, and reduce the chance of overuse injury from skating.

In terms of the amount of time spent in competition, keep in mind the cardinal rule: train for your races. If you are a 100 meter sprinter, your training will not be the same as if you are a marathoner. Again, basic physiology or training books will give you examples based on competition times. No matter what anyone says, there is no perfect training schedule that works for everyone, so don’t expect a book to be your coach, but the guidelines that most good training texts (Suzanne Nottingham’s Fitness Inline Skating and Barry Publow’s Speed on Skates) will get you started.

Next time, we’ll take a look at some of the more exciting, complicated issues - equipment and efficiency, as well as discuss some ways you can test your fitness level.