Athlete In The City

I was talking to a friend recently and they were saying how they tried to do some jump roping, and how quickly they got winded.  They explained how they remembered it being so easy in high school, and how many reps they could do, and how fast.  And they were only 25.

The truth is we’ve all felt the affects of aging on our health, which is obviously the reason why a lot of us, myself included, are so into training, and fitness.  Anyway, I thought it might help to mention a few points from my personal training textbook on this topic.  Firstly the obvious:

“the rate of strength gain appears to be greater during the years of normal growth and development, generally considered to be from the ages of 10 to 20″

but goes on to say:

“recent research has revealed that men and women of all ages can increase their muscle size and muscle strength through progressive strength training.”

But in terms of being realistic about our goals, this point puts that in perspective:

“Muscle mass declines with age, resulting in decreased muscular strength and endurance.  For each decade after the age of 25, 3 to 5% of muscle mass is lost.  This is primarily attributed to changes in lifestyle and the decreased use of the neuromuscular system.”

A similar affect is felt in the bone density of the bod:

“With age, bones become more fragile…  With age the loss of calcium results in decreased bone mass, but weightbearing  and resistance training exercises are known to help maintain bone mass.”

Loss of bone mass eventually leads to osteoperosis, but…

“The greater the physical stress and compression on a bone, the greater the rate of bone deposition (this is why weightbearing exercise is recommended).”

Running is a weightbearing exercise for example, and swimming is not.  This is why folks who are older and have joint problems, are recommended swimming or walking, over running.  Keep in mind that running also causes tightening of the hamstrings, and tendons around the knee joint, so more stretching is required to avoid the potential downside of running, which puts weightbearing stress on the knees and hip joints.