Topic: Research

Study: Older runners can improve faster than younger runners

By DIANE SCARPONI

September 8, 2004, 5:42 PM EDT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Older runners are improving their performance more quickly than younger runners, a Yale study found, raising new awareness of the ability of older athletes and benefits of exercise for people 50 and older.

"I think the message one can give people is, no matter what age you are, you should try to stay physically active," lead researcher Dr. Peter Jokl said. "You can maintain a very high performance standard into the sixth or seventh decade of life."

Published in the August issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study of top runners in the New York City Marathon over 16 years found that the average times of older age groups improved more than the average times for younger age groups.

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Genetically Engineered "Marathon Mouse" Keeps On Running

Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Date: 2004-08-24

By enhancing the function of a single protein, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have produced a “marathon mouse” with altered muscle composition and enough physical endurance to run twice as far as normal mice. Mice with the enhanced protein also showed an innate resistance to weight gain, even when fed a high-fat diet that caused normal mice to become obese.

According to the researchers, their finding will offer important insights into the machinery that powers muscle development and the physiological changes produced by exercise. The finding also suggests a route to designing drugs that enhance muscle development and mimic all the benefits of exercise. The researchers said such drugs could aid patients whose debilitating diseases prevent them from exercising. The researchers recognize that such drugs - already being tested by pharmaceutical companies - could be abused as a way to enhance athletic performance.

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A study into the effects of colostrum supplements has turned the media spotlight on researcher Christine Crooks.

Her study shows that colostrum supplements may boost immunity levels in marathon runners. Albany based Ms Crooks looked at male and female runners aged 25 to 58 years, all of whom were doing marathon type training leading up to the 2002 Rotorua Marathon.

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MR imaging of the hip and knee before and after marathon running.

Am J Sports Med. 2004 Jan-Feb;32(1):55-9.

Hohmann E, Wortler K, Imhoff AB.

Department of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, University of Munich, Germany, and the Department of Radiology, Klinikum re. der Isar, University of Munich, Germany.

BACKGROUND: Despite its obvious benefits regarding aerobic fitness, the possible deleterious effects of long-distance running remain controversial. The repetitive loading associated with this activity could potentially predispose to the subsequent development of osteoarthritis. Lower extremity malalignment can also result in abnormal joint loading and is another possible contributing factor for premature articular cartilage degeneration. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether external impact loading in marathon runners creates internal stresses on bone and cartilage that are demonstrable on MR images. Participants were separately assessed for static lower extremity alignment, using standard radiographs.

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Reduced eccentric loading of the knee with the pose running method.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Feb;36(2):272-7.

Arendse RE, Noakes TD, Azevedo LB, Romanov N, Schwellnus MP, Fletcher G.

MRC/UCT Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Sports Science Institute of South Africa, PO Box 115, Newlands 7725, South Africa. rarendse@sports.uct.ac.za

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical changes during natural heel-toe running with learned midfoot and Pose running.

METHODS: Twenty heel-toe runners were instructed in midfoot running and a novel running style in which the acromium, greater trochanter, and lateral malleolus are aligned in stance (Pose running). Clinical gait analysis was performed for each running style and the biomechanical variables compared.

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Maximal but not submaximal performance is reduced by constant-speed 10-km run.

J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2003 Dec;43(4):411-7.

Finni T, Kyrolainen H, Avela J, Komi PV.

Neuromuscular Research Center, Department of Biology of Physical Activity, University of Jyvlskyll, Jyvlskyll, Finland. finni@sport.jyu.fi

AIM: Effects of endurance exercise on running economy, mechanics, force generating capacity and their interactions were examined. During the exercise, metabolic, kinetic and kinematic variables were recorded to find out adaptive mechanisms in the course of the fatiguing run. In addition, before and after it maximal force and power production was tested.

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Voluntary exercise and mild food restriction effectively retard the collagen biomarker of aging.

Aging Clin Exp Res. 2003 Dec;15(6):475-81. 

Viidik A, Skalicky M.

Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. AV@ana.au.dk

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Obesity and lack of physical exercise characterize increasing numbers of people in Western societies, resulting in increasing morbidity and mortality. Regular physical exercise, on the other hand, has been shown to be beneficial. Beneficial effects have also been shown in laboratory rodent studies--lifelong physical exercise increases the mean life span but not the maximum life span, while food restriction increases both life spans. We studied male Sprague-Dawley rats in order to further analyze these beneficial effects.

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Rigorous running increases growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I without altering ghrelin.

Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2004 Mar;229(3):240-6.

Kraemer RR, Durand RJ, Acevedo EO, Johnson LG, Kraemer GR, Hebert EP, Castracane VD.

Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA. rkraemer@selu.edu

It has been suggested that ghrelin may play a role in growth hormone (GH) responses to exercise. The present study was designed to determine whether ghrelin, GH, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were altered by a progressively intense running protocol.

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Effects of prolonged voluntary wheel-running on muscle structure and function in rat skeletal muscle.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 Mar 11

Kariya F, Yamauchi H, Kobayashi K, Narusawa M, Nakahara Y.

Faculty of Physical Education, International Budo University, 841 Shinkan, Kastuura, 299-5295, Chiba, Japan.

We examined the effects of prolonged voluntary wheel-running on skeletal muscle functional and/or structural characteristics in rats.

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Prolonged vitamin C supplementation and recovery from eccentric exercise.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 Mar 13

Thompson D, Bailey DM, Hill J, Hurst T, Powell JR, Williams C.

Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Bath, BA2 7AY, Bath, UK.

We have previously shown that vitamin C supplementation affects recovery from an unaccustomed bout of demanding exercise, with the most pronounced effect being that on plasma interleukin-6 concentration. However, because of the proposed role of interleukin-6 in the regulation of metabolism, it was unclear whether this represented a reduced response to muscle damage or some form of interaction with the metabolic demands of the activity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the same form of supplementation on a bout of exercise that initiated similar muscle damage but had a low metabolic cost.

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