Fitness levels decline with age, especially after 45

millenium girl

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Men and women become gradually less fit with age, with declines accelerating after age 45, according to a report in the October 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI), not smoking and being physically active are associated with higher fitness levels throughout adult life.

"The U.S. population is aging and is becoming more obese and sedentary," the authors write as background information in the article. "It is well documented that the cardiorespiratory fitness of men and women declines with age and that body composition and habitual physical activity are related to cardiorespiratory fitness." Low fitness levels increase the risk of diseases and interfere with older adults' ability to function independently.

Andrew S. Jackson, P.E.D., of the University of Houston, and colleagues studied 3,429 women and 16,889 men age 20 to 96 who participated in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS) between 1974 and 2006. During the study, participants completed between two and 33 health examinations that included counseling about diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors along with a treadmill exercise to assess fitness.

Statistical models showed that while fitness levels declined continuously over time, the decrease was not linear or steady -- cardiorespiratory fitness declined more rapidly after age 45. The decline for men was greater than that for women.
The results also "showed that being active, keeping a normal BMI and not smoking were associated with substantially higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness during the adult life span studied," the authors write. "Being inactive and having a high BMI were associated with a lower age at which an individual could be expected to reach threshold cardiorespiratory fitness levels associated with substantially higher health risks."

Given the high rates of obesity and low levels of physical activity previously observed in the general population, the results also suggest that more men and women will reach the fitness level designated by the Social Security Administration as representing disability at a younger age, the authors note. "These data indicate the need for physicians to recommend to their patients the necessity to maintain their weight, engage in regular aerobic exercise and abstain from smoking," they conclude.

Journal Reference:
Andrew S. Jackson; Xuemei Sui; James R. Hebert; Timothy S. Church; Steven N. Blair. Role of Lifestyle and Aging on the Longitudinal Change in Cardiorespiratory Fitness. Arch Intern Med, 2009; 169 (19): 1781-1787
 
i am 40 and going on 11.

I may jam some tren in my left ass cheek and enter puberty as I sleep.
 
I just came back from shopping here at the farmer's market and all. You have to walk or metro everywhere. I saw no less than 100 people between 70 and early 90s out here doing their sopping, some alone, some with a relative. the trick is keep your ass moving. in the Us everything is mass produced. Here you have to get out into the country before you see big chain stores. I think New York City might be something like this place only with a shitty attitude. Make gasoline 8 bucks a gallon and provide cheap public transport and in 20 years you'll have local growers and everything would become local. People would walk more often and 90% of the people under 50 would have a nice ass.
 
Your fitness levels decline if you allow your activity level to decline. Keep active and workout and most people can keep pretty fit well beyond 40.
 
My Grandfather said he had enough and went to bed at 96...
Active throughout out his life and long before anyone was doing aerobics.
 
I think it's pretty natural to lose interest in fitness as we age, at least the natural aging process. After about 45 most people really start to deteriorate, even the fit ones or the ones that stay pretty active. Women lose their sex drive probably a good 15 years before men. At 45 a lot of women never want to have sex. Men still want to make it probably 2-3 times a week at 55. But at 55 the young women are looking at you like an old pervert and the older women are not interested so men might lose interest and women probably lose the desire to look good as the hormones drop makes it more difficult and the desire for intimacy drops like a stone. OK I'm blaming all of this on sex. Maybe I am an old pervert. I have sex on the brain.
 
I don't have time to get old!

...and my wife says I'm not allowed to get old man ass.
 
I'm not sure my fitness level has declined all that much but at 49 I can say it hasn't gotten any easier to stay in shape.
 
I can vouch. I am 53 now. Good days and bad days. Wednesday I broke into a full sprint to sneak up on a Chinese woman I know to scare her. It worked. My hip hurt a little later in the day. It's OK though. Today I did some sprint/jog hiit type stuff. I'm definitely not 25 though.
 
I like 21-26 year old women paying attention to me so I'll just keep chugging along working out........
 
Well, all I know is that I used to jog five miles, five days a week, after weight training. I had to quit because my knees were killing me. Age or abuse, either way I can't do what I used to do physically.
 
I'm 51 and still quite active, so that premise may not hold true for everyone. While I can't do all the things I did when I was younger I still make it a point to stay fit and eat healthy. I still look younger than I actually am so that's a good thing too.
 
Well, all I know is that I used to jog five miles, five days a week, after weight training. I had to quit because my knees were killing me. Age or abuse, either way I can't do what I used to do physically.

Did you ever have any knee or other joint injuries? If so that can become a limiting factor.
 
I'm one of the older guys and I'm still hanging in there. Although some days are harder than I remembered in the past.
 
Did you ever have any knee or other joint injuries? If so that can become a limiting factor.

No. I did gain 100lb of muscle since then. And for pushing 60 next year I'm not complaining.
But I did hurt my left knee and my back having sex with the old lady last week.
 
Got in the best condition of my life after hard stead work once I got on TRT at 52......lifted intelligently,trained bjj,chased girls,ate clean. By 57 I was a beast,,,,,,,imo. Tried deca for two weeks but sides stopped me. Did eq a year and Loved it. Got very very strong with great endurance. Tried winny and damn that shit hurt too much but by 3rd week My muscles screamed to train...then I stopped. Getting Old sucks BUT trt makes it a whole different ball game IF you keep training. Stop and you will get fatter faster than ever...I am 62 and back on track after depression stopped training..Father died, dog died, 3 aunts and a cousing died. I now take care of my Mom.........sheesh life can sure take different turns. Got up tp 232 FAT from 188 ripped up lean. Now back to 219 and feeling da muscles again ThankGawd
 
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