Not getting any better!

Yesterday, was the annual "Natoconnect," a very private and grueling ski odyssey that I'm privileged to participate into with a bunch of young guys, mostly in their forties. This year's event was fraught with memorable incidents that I will eventually report on this blog, when I get all the pieces together. Today, however, I'd like to focus upon the formidable challenge that I find in climbing hills with young folks that are – on average - 20 years younger than me and extremely fit to boot.

As we all suspect or already know, our fitness levels decline dramatically as we grow older. It's also true that exercise is key to maintaining a semblance of stamina. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, has investigated changes in aerobic capacity in healthy people across a broad age group. They analyzed data on 375 women and 435 men, ages 21 to 87, by putting participants through some tough treadmill exercise, testing them about every four years for a median 8 years, to get some long-term perspective.

The participants' aerobic capacity, the amount of oxygen the body consumes during exercise, which is known as VO2, was calculated during treadmill tests. As logic would suggest, as aerobic capacity diminishes, a person commonly does less physical activity, walks slower and more easily becomes exhausted with physical exertion, just like I was yesterday when I had to climb those pesky hills at 10,000 feet. Using the treadmill results, researchers calculated the change in aerobic capacity for each decade of age. It declined in each decade in men and women, but at a far greater rate in older age groups.

The rate of decline was 3 percent to 6 percent per decade in the 20s and 30s but more than 20 percent per decade in people in their 70s and beyond. Beginning in the 40s, guys decline in aerobic capacity was greater than girls, regardless of their reported physical activity. For example, men lost an average of 8.3 percent of exercise capacity per decade in their 40s, and 23.2 percent per decade in their 70s.

To counter this age-related decline we ought to maximize our aerobic capacity through exercise. Participating in a training program, can raise your aerobic capacity 15 percent to 25 percent, which according to the researchers is the equivalent to being 10-20 years younger. Sure, our aerobic capacity will decline over time, but at any given age someone who exercises will have a higher capacity than a couch potato. Declining muscle strength, another factor that contributes to frailty as people age, can also be countered through strengthening exercises. So you have it, we're stuck and have no other choice but keeping on working out!