Age and Training-Related Changes on Body Composition and Fitness in Male Amateur Cyclists

José Ramón Alvero-Cruz, Jerónimo C. García Romero, Francisco Javier Ordonez, Denis Mongin, Lorena Correas-Gómez, Pantelis T. Nikolaidis and Beat Knechtle
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José Ramón Alvero-Cruz: Sports Medicine and Cycling Training Center, 29004 Malaga, Spain
Jerónimo C. García Romero: Sports Medicine and Cycling Training Center, 29004 Malaga, Spain
Francisco Javier Ordonez: Faculty of Medicine, University of Cádiz, 11003 Cadiz, Spain
Denis Mongin: Quality of Care Unit, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Lorena Correas-Gómez: Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Málaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain
Pantelis T. Nikolaidis: School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, 122 43 Athens, Greece
Beat Knechtle: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Master athletes are considered as a model of healthy aging because they can limit the age-related decline of physiological abilities compared to sedentary individuals. The main objective of this study is to analyze age-related changes and annual training on body composition (BC) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) parameters. The participants in this retrospective cross-sectional study were 176 male cyclists, aged 40–60 years. BC was evaluated through anthropometric measurements and CRF was determined by an incremental cycle ergometer test to exhaustion. A comparative study between age groups was carried out through a one-way ANOVA test and the associations between the variables were assessed by Spearman’s correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis to estimate the performance. Training was generally associated with a decrease in both body weight and body fat ( p < 0.05). A decrease in resting heart rate was observed as a vagal effect of kilometers cycled per year ( p < 0.05). Kilometers cycled per year were associated with an increase in peak power output, which was larger in the master 40 group ( p < 0.05) with a non-significant upward in VO 2 max ( p > 0.05). In the performance prediction model, the included variables explained 52% of the variance. In summary, the changes induced by age were minimal in BC and negligible in CRF, whereas HR decreased with age. Training load was generally associated with a decrease in body weight, BMI and body fat percentage that was particularly notable in the abdominal skin folds. A decrease in HRrest was observed as a vagal effect due to kilometers cycled per year, and age did not seem to have a significant effect. The annual cycling kilometers were associated with to high PPO that is greater in the M40 group and a non-significant upward trend in VO 2 max.

Keywords: age-related changes; training; fat mass; BMI; cardiorespiratory fitness; cycling; master athletes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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