The Study
A hemodynamic comparison of young and older endurance athletes during exercise.
This study looked at how well different groups of runners' hearts worked during exercise, but it didn't make anyone change their habits. So we can say athletes' hearts looked different, but we can't say exercise made them that way — maybe people with stronger hearts just like to run more.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Older athletes who trained their whole lives have hearts and blood vessels that work almost as well as young athletes, even though they're older.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 527 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — lifelong training helps older people keep strong heart function and muscle oxygen use, unlike sedentary peers who lose both.
- 2Master athletes had 9-19% lower VO2max than young runners, but same stroke volume and oxygen use.
- 3Sedentary older adults had 47% lower VO2max than master athletes, due to weaker heart pumping and less oxygen use in muscles.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of applied physiology
Year
1985
Authors
J. Hagberg, W. Allen, D. Seals, B. Hurley, A. Ehsani, J. Holloszy
Related Content
Claims (5)
During exercise, endurance athletes have a higher cardiac output than non-athletes at every level of effort.
Older adults who are inactive have 47% lower maximal oxygen uptake than older endurance athletes, because their hearts pump less blood per beat and their muscles extract less oxygen from the blood.
Older endurance athletes who have trained their entire lives have the same heart pumping capacity and oxygen use in muscles as much younger athletes, despite their age.
Master athletes have 9% lower maximal oxygen uptake than younger runners with similar training and performance, and 19% lower than competitive young runners, because their maximum heart rate is lower, while their heart's pumping capacity and oxygen extraction by muscles stay the same.
Older athletes who have trained endurance throughout their lives show stronger blood vessel widening during exercise than older adults who are inactive, indicating their blood vessels maintain better function with age.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.