TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Aging on Endurance and Neuromuscular Physical Performance
T2 - The Role of Vascular Senescence
AU - Mendonca, Goncalo V.
AU - Pezarat-Correia, Pedro
AU - Vaz, João R.
AU - Silva, Luís
AU - Heffernan, Kevin S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
PY - 2017/4/1
Y1 - 2017/4/1
N2 - The portion of society aged ≥60 years is the fastest growing population in the Western hemisphere. Aging is associated with numerous changes to systemic physiology that affect physical function and performance. We present a narrative review of the literature aimed at discussing the age-related changes in various metrics of physical performance (exercise economy, anaerobic threshold, peak oxygen uptake, muscle strength, and power). It also explores aging exercise physiology as it relates to global physical performance. Finally, this review examines the vascular contributions to aging exercise physiology. Numerous studies have shown that older adults exhibit substantial reductions in physical performance. The process of decline in endurance capacity is particularly insidious over the age of 60 years and varies considerably as a function of sex, task specificity, and individual training status. Starting at the age of 50 years, aging also implicates an impressive deterioration of neuromuscular function, affecting muscle strength and power. Muscle atrophy, together with minor deficits in the structure and function of the nervous system and/or impairments in intrinsic muscle quality, plays an important role in the development of neuromotor senescence. Large artery stiffness increases as a function of age, thus triggering subsequent changes in pulsatile hemodynamics and systemic endothelial dysfunction. For this reason, we propose that vascular senescence has a negative impact on cerebral, cardiac, and neuromuscular structure and function, detrimentally affecting physical performance.
AB - The portion of society aged ≥60 years is the fastest growing population in the Western hemisphere. Aging is associated with numerous changes to systemic physiology that affect physical function and performance. We present a narrative review of the literature aimed at discussing the age-related changes in various metrics of physical performance (exercise economy, anaerobic threshold, peak oxygen uptake, muscle strength, and power). It also explores aging exercise physiology as it relates to global physical performance. Finally, this review examines the vascular contributions to aging exercise physiology. Numerous studies have shown that older adults exhibit substantial reductions in physical performance. The process of decline in endurance capacity is particularly insidious over the age of 60 years and varies considerably as a function of sex, task specificity, and individual training status. Starting at the age of 50 years, aging also implicates an impressive deterioration of neuromuscular function, affecting muscle strength and power. Muscle atrophy, together with minor deficits in the structure and function of the nervous system and/or impairments in intrinsic muscle quality, plays an important role in the development of neuromotor senescence. Large artery stiffness increases as a function of age, thus triggering subsequent changes in pulsatile hemodynamics and systemic endothelial dysfunction. For this reason, we propose that vascular senescence has a negative impact on cerebral, cardiac, and neuromuscular structure and function, detrimentally affecting physical performance.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979704188&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40279-016-0596-8
DO - 10.1007/s40279-016-0596-8
M3 - Review article
C2 - 27459861
AN - SCOPUS:84979704188
SN - 0112-1642
VL - 47
SP - 583
EP - 598
JO - Sports Medicine
JF - Sports Medicine
IS - 4
ER -