Top Tips for Mature Runners
It is a fact of life that, as we get older our bodies change. If we run and keep physically fit our bodies change. Can one counteract the other?
What happens as we get older?
1) As we mature, our motor neurons die, more so over the age of 60, which causes connections between muscle fibres to weaken leading to loss and shrinking and so we become frailer.
2) From our late 30s maximal oxygen consumption, or VO2 max, decreases at a rate of around 1% per year in most people. VO2 max is dependent on heart rate, which decreases by about 5 to 10 beats per minute per decade. This means that you can't send as much oxygen to your working muscles and so you can't run as fast.
3) Large elastic arteries including the aorta, which shuttles blood from the heart and the carotid artery which feeds blood to the brain get stiffer. As a result, blood pressure rises and the heart must work harder. As well as this, signals that normally open the arteries and increase blood flow or narrow the arteries to reduce blood flow stop operating as effectively.
4) Wear and tear builds up on the joints, connective tissue becomes less elastic and lubricating fluids decline, making us more injury-prone.
How can running slow these processes down?
1) Unfortunately the motor neurons are going to die no matter how fit we are but by being fit we can slow the process down. Some muscle fibres are lost more quickly than others. More fast twitch fibres will be lost in comparison to slow twitch fibres because we call on these slow twitch fibres more often as we go about our daily lives. That's good for us because we need our slow twitch fibres for running long distances. The fast twitch fibres are used for more power based events such as sprinting, jumping and throwing.
2) Your VO2 max is going to decrease but not as much as if you led a more sedentary lifestyle. It will undoubtedly affect your ability to sustain the paces that you previously had but you will still be able to run long distances albeit at a slower pace.
3) Running will partially, but not completely, prevent the arteries from getting stiffer. There is good news about the signals that open and narrow the arteries: they will not be affected in a person who is fit and active.
4) Research in this area is limited but studies suggest that regular and a long term exercise habit help keep the joints intact especially when running over more forgiving terrain such as grass pitches and off-road trails.
Top tips for older runners:
The key to a longer and healthier life is to keep on running but understand that your training and particularly your recovery will need to change as you get older.
Cut back on your mileage but compensate by increasing the quality of your training sessions - quality over quantity.
Take more recovery days and more recovery time between efforts. Include some cross training on the days when you need more time to recover from your running sessions, this may include swimming, light gym session or walking.
Include strength training, essential to fight off that age-related deterioration in muscle fibres.
Include flexibility sessions or yoga to keep your muscles supple and to keep a good range of movement.
Always warm up before a session and cool down after, perform some static stretches also to realign the muscle fibres.