In our never-ending quest for only the most current, timely and up-to-date masters track research, here’s a study that, um, came out eight months ago.  No matter. It’s news to me. It’s an “academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in the Building Villa Rana, Blomstedt Hall, on June 27, 2009 at 9 a.m.”  The author is Marko T. Korhonen, and I hope he got his doctorate. Good work done. The full report is posted here as a humongous PDF.  Make some tea while it downloads. My nickel summary: You gotta lift weights to be a good masters sprinter. Running alone won’t do the trick.

Here's how some Eurovets sprinters were analyzed. Cool, huh?

Here’s the guts of the report:

MASTER SPRINTERS

In the past, before 1970s, the training for sprinters consisted mainly of running practices. This tradition appears to be reflected to current training of many master sprinters who have continued their career into older age (Sipilä et al. 1991). In their study, Reaburn and coworkers (1995, 1997) hypothesized that an increase in resistance training stimulus could lead to further improvements in strength and sprint performance in competitive master runners who had limited or no previous experience of strength training. It was found that in response to an 8-week combined sprint (2x/wk) and hypertrophic strength (3x/wk) training program, the male sprinters (55±6 yr; n=6 and 4 controls) increased dynamic leg extensor strength by 25%, quadriceps strength by 10%, hamstring strength by 12%, anthropometrically-measured thigh circumference by 3%, and 100-m and 300-m sprint performance by 4% and 2%, respectively.

Based on these findings, the authors recommended that master athletes involved in sprint/power events should include hypertrophy strength training as an essential component of the training program. The results also indicate that the master male sprinters, at least between ~45 and 60 years of age, were able to tolerate the increased training volume (5 sessions per week) without signs of overtraining, as indicated by their maintained basal serum testosterone levels (Reaburn et al. 1997).

While this study indicates that combined training is more effective than sprint training alone, it remains to be determined how the training is reflected to muscle fiber and neural characteristics. This information would increase the knowledge of the plasticity of already trained neuromuscular system to altered  exercise stimulus and could have implications of planning of training programs for aging athletes.

More specifically the aim was to answer the following research questions:

(1) How do the overall 100-m and 60-m sprint performances decline with age? What are the biomechanical changes associated with maximum velocity decline with age (I, II), and does age have an influence on the repeatability and symmetry of the performance variables? (III)

(2) Is anaerobic lactacid energy production, estimated by blood lactate response, affected by age, and is the peak blood lactate concentration associated with overall 100-400-m sprint performances? (IV)

(3) What is the effect of age on various muscle structural and functional properties at the single-fiber and whole-muscle levels in systematically trained sprint athletes? (II, V)

(4) What is the contribution of structural and functional characteristics of leg muscles to age-related decline in maximum-speed sprinting? (II)

(5) Are older sprinters able to further enhance sprint performance and neuromuscular characteristics by incorporating heavy-resistance and high-power strength exercises into the overall training program? (VI)

STUDY I. The sprinters aged 40-88 years qualified for the finals and semifinals in the 100-400-m sprint events in the European Veterans Athletics Championships (in July 2000) were recruited for the first phase of the study (I, IV). Thirty-seven 41 sprinters (the fastest 3-4 finalists in each 5-yr age category) were analyzed for biomechanical aspects of the 100-m sprint performance (I). Examination of blood lactate response to sprinting comprised 81 runners who had qualified for finals in 100-, 200- and 400-m sprint events (IV). Information on current and former training, competition performance and sport injuries was obtained with questionnaires (translated into 8 languages) and interviews.

Most of the athletes had in their youth competed in sprint running events and maintained regular year-round training. With age, there were no significant differences in total training hours per week (~6-8 h) and the percentage of sprint training (~70-90%) of total training.

STUDY II. Laboratory-based measurements of running biomechanics and skeletal muscle properties were undertaken in the second study phase in 2002 (II, III, V). A total of 108 athletes aged 17-84 years were recruited from among the members of Finnish track and field organizations. To qualify for the study
the subjects had to have a long-term sprint-training background and success in international or national championships in 100- to 400-m sprinting events.

On the basis of the questionnaire, the weekly training hours (from about 11.5 to 5.9 h/wk), training frequency, and strength training hours declined with age, with the greatest decline from the youngest to the 40- to 49-year-old athletes (V). Medical histories and a focused medical examination (for subjects >55 yr) indicated that the actual health of the subjects was good without any functionally limiting chronic neurological, cardiovascular, endocrinological or musculoskeletal conditions.

Basal serum concentrations of total testosterone (T),  sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and T/SHBG -ratio (free androgen index) were examined in subjects aged 40-84 (Table 1). T concentration remained unchanged with age, while SHBG values increased and T/SHBG ratio declined. However, both T and SHBG were within the normal references values.

The daily dietary intake of macronutrients and micronutrients was registered by food diaries for 3 workdays and 2 weekend days. Subjects were given detailed instructions on completing the foods records (portion sizes, exact brand names, preparation techniques).

The diaries were analyzed using the nutrient analyses software Nutrica 3.0 (Social Insurance Institution, Turku, Finland). The results showed no age-related differences in energy and macronutrient intake. The daily dietary protein intake followed the recommendations for older athletes (1.2-1.4 g/kg vs. recommendation 1.2-1.4 g/kg), whereas daily carbohydrate intake was below the recommendations (3.6-4.3 g/kg vs. recommendation 6 g/kg/day) (Campbell and Geik 2004).

In micronutrients, only vitamin D intake (8.6±6.1 g) was below recommendations (10-15 g) and its intake decreased with age (r=-0.35, p<0.01). The selected characteristics of the study subjects are listed in Table 1 (V).

MAIN FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of the results and within the limitations of the study, the research questions presented in the study aims (page 39) are answered as follows:

(1a) With age athletic sprint performance (60 m, 100 m) declined in a curvilinear fashion (5-6%/decade) from the peak levels attained at age 20-35 until ~85 years of age (I, II). The decline with age in maximum speed was mainly related to a reduction in stride length and an increase in contact time, while stride frequency showed a minor decline and swing time remained unaffected (I, II). The age-related reductions in force production during running, defined here as average net resultant GRFs, seem to be primarily responsible for the changes in stride length, contact time, and, consequently, in maximum velocity with age (II).

Furthermore, lower maximal leg and vertical stiffness in older runners may limit the ability to resist high impact loads and contribute to the increase in contact time in the braking phase.

(1b) Methodological study (III) indicated that the older runners have increased variability in horizontal braking and push-off GRFs, maximal vertical loading rate and aerial time of maximum-speed running, whereas the symmetry of the biomechanical measures was not affected by age. However, variability in the older runners was comparable to that in the younger runners in all the parameters that were characterized by good repeatability (CV<6%).

(2) There was an age-related decline in [La]b peak following races over 100-400 m, the decrease becoming more evident from age 70 (IV). [La]b peak correlated negatively and significantly with running times in all sprint events in the overall sample, and with the 400-m sprint when controlled for age

(3a) The athletes showed a typical age-associated reduction in fast-fiber size, a shift toward a slower MyHC isoform profile and a loss of leg muscle thickness (II, V). On the other hand, the data suggest that sprint training can maintain fiber size above normal levels and counteract the age-related 99 reduction in fascicle length (II, V). Furthermore, the qualitative aspects of muscle contraction, such as single fiber shortening velocity and specific force, remained unchanged with age in these athletes (V).

3b) Older age was associated with a reduction in maximal (8-9%) and explosive (10-11%) muscle strength. The mechanism underlying the decline in maximal strength can be largely attributed to loss of muscle mass, whereas rapid strength may also relate to a reduction in the fast fiber area and rapid neural activation (V). Yet, in the sprint athletes the rate of the age-related decline in strength in rapid and in maximal muscle strength was similar, which may reflect the specificity of training and positive effect of sprint training on the maintenance of rapid muscle strength (II).

Age was the strongest predictor of Vmax (88%). When age was excluded from the model, CMJ height and muscle thickness (KE+PF) appeared in the model and together explained 80% of the variance in Vmax. Muscle thickness was the best determinant of Fbrake (26%) while CMJ explained most of the variance in Fpush (34%). The finding that a large part of the total variability of the data remained unexplained suggests that force production during running is affected by complex interaction of neuromuscular and biomechanical factors.

5a) The 20-week periodized sprint training program with increased emphasis on weight-training resulted in improvements in 60-m sprint time, Vmax, stride length, rate of propulsive force development and leg stiffness in the older sprinters. Significant increases were also noted in maximal dynamic and isometric strength and in jumping exercises.

5b) Training increased type II fiber size by 17-20%. However, single fiber specific force and shortening velocity remained unchanged, suggesting that the qualitative mechanism of contraction had no clear training effect. Changes in the neural activation of the agonists were minor, with increases noted only in iEMG of the vertical jump.

The present studies in high-performance master athletes provided a new insight into the effect of aging and training on speed ability. The results indicate that with systematic training, sprint performance and its physiological determinants are preserved at an extraordinary high level into old age.

However, age group comparisons showed a progressive decline both in performance and in most of the neuromuscular characteristics studied. This may, in part, be associated with lack of strength training in the master sprinters. The information obtained from this study, in addition to contributing to present knowledge about the effects of aging per se, can be applied in the planning of training for athletes and nonathletes alike.

Modified speed/explosive types of exercises combined with heavy resistance training can be recommended as part of overall physical training for middle-aged and older people to prevent fast fiber atrophy and loss of explosive strength both of which are critical changes in the aging process as they contribute substantially to mobility impairment, falls and fractures.

OK, got that? You’ll be tested tomorrow morning.

Our thanks to JT, a member of our Forum who brought this great research to our attention.