Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Sept. 15th, 2005 G.E.T. Junior Conditioning Program
9/15/05 13:15
Today we rowed three times fifteen minutes: 5'+5+5' at stroke rates 18-20-22. Target heart rates were HR 160, 165, 170
After the first 15' piece: Alyssa 160-2:18 165-2:23 170-2:13
3292m Watts 137
Second piece with one leg at a time for the first ten minutes, remaining five minutes with both legs 3006 meters
Last fifteen minute piece was 22-24-20
Erin 157-2:29 166-2:34 169-2:33
2944 meters Watts 98
one leg alternating for ten minutes 2:41 2756 meters
HR 167 2.4 Lactate Slightly High slightly high for aerobic workout. Therefore target heart rate shall be no higher than 165 heart beats per minute.
Allison 164 after five minutes which was slightly high by four heart beats. After the second five minutes 164-2:16 173-2:16
3175m Watts 122.9 3101 meters
Claudia 2:11 no Heart Rate 2:10 2:06
3466 m Watts 159. 3109
Allison: Less Lay back and drive legs first. This way you will avoid starting the stroke by opening the back early. You made good improvement with your finish position. The bungee worked great for you. Your posture was much better at the catch.
Alyssa. I like your straight arms when you drive the legs. Make sure you stay consistent with your grip at the finish. Remember to slightly support your back more. I think it became obvious when we talked about this change in posture during your horizontal row.
Erin. You are utilizing your length well. Still at the catch you can easily find a couple more inches by compressing the legs more and rolling a bit more onto the balls of you feet.
Claudia make sure that you hold your handle more in the finger tips. Like this the stroke will be longer at the catch and you will able to utilize your lat muscles longer for a stronger finish. Be careful not to carry your right hand higher on the recovery than your left.
Thank you for your trust in me. It is a pleasure to coach you and I wish you all the best for your ten K tomorrow.
XENO
Today we rowed three times fifteen minutes: 5'+5+5' at stroke rates 18-20-22. Target heart rates were HR 160, 165, 170
After the first 15' piece: Alyssa 160-2:18 165-2:23 170-2:13
3292m Watts 137
Second piece with one leg at a time for the first ten minutes, remaining five minutes with both legs 3006 meters
Last fifteen minute piece was 22-24-20
Erin 157-2:29 166-2:34 169-2:33
2944 meters Watts 98
one leg alternating for ten minutes 2:41 2756 meters
HR 167 2.4 Lactate Slightly High slightly high for aerobic workout. Therefore target heart rate shall be no higher than 165 heart beats per minute.
Allison 164 after five minutes which was slightly high by four heart beats. After the second five minutes 164-2:16 173-2:16
3175m Watts 122.9 3101 meters
Claudia 2:11 no Heart Rate 2:10 2:06
3466 m Watts 159. 3109
Allison: Less Lay back and drive legs first. This way you will avoid starting the stroke by opening the back early. You made good improvement with your finish position. The bungee worked great for you. Your posture was much better at the catch.
Alyssa. I like your straight arms when you drive the legs. Make sure you stay consistent with your grip at the finish. Remember to slightly support your back more. I think it became obvious when we talked about this change in posture during your horizontal row.
Erin. You are utilizing your length well. Still at the catch you can easily find a couple more inches by compressing the legs more and rolling a bit more onto the balls of you feet.
Claudia make sure that you hold your handle more in the finger tips. Like this the stroke will be longer at the catch and you will able to utilize your lat muscles longer for a stronger finish. Be careful not to carry your right hand higher on the recovery than your left.
Thank you for your trust in me. It is a pleasure to coach you and I wish you all the best for your ten K tomorrow.
XENO
Saturday, August 13, 2005
This could also be a great indoor rowing wellness program at HOAG Hospital
Rehabilitation Hospital Receives Christopher Reeve Grant
Will Fund Adaptive Rowing Program
09/10/2004
(HARTFORD, Conn.) The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut, a Saint Francis Care provider, has received a $6,300 grant from the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation to create an adaptive rowing program for disabled individuals.
The grant is one of 126 Quality of Life grants awarded nationwide recently by the foundation. The grants program was established in 1999 by Dana Reeve, director of the foundation and founder of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. Grants are awarded to programs and projects that improve the well-being of individuals living with paralysis, particularly spinal cord injuries.
Rowing is an ideal physical activity for disabled people at many different levels of ability,� said Paul Stillman, vice president of the hospital. We intend to use this program as a means to enhance life-long fitness and self-esteem for disabled individuals throughout the region.�
The grant will fund the purchase of three adaptive rowing shells and other necessary equipment. The shells will be based at the Greater Hartford Jaycees Community Boathouse in Hartfords Riverside Park. Staff from The Rehabilitation Hospital will work with Riverfront Recapture and the Connecticut Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association to promote the program and to enlist disabled rowers.
The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation is committed to funding research that develops treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. The foundation also vigorously works to improve the quality of life for people living with disabilities through its grants program, paralysis resource center and advocacy efforts.
The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut is a 60-bed comprehensive medical rehabilitation facility located on the Mount Sinai Campus of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. It offers major inpatient and outpatient programs in traumatic brain injury, stroke/neurological rehabilitation, sports medicine and general rehabilitation, including spinal cord injury and orthopedics.
Will Fund Adaptive Rowing Program
09/10/2004
(HARTFORD, Conn.) The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut, a Saint Francis Care provider, has received a $6,300 grant from the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation to create an adaptive rowing program for disabled individuals.
The grant is one of 126 Quality of Life grants awarded nationwide recently by the foundation. The grants program was established in 1999 by Dana Reeve, director of the foundation and founder of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. Grants are awarded to programs and projects that improve the well-being of individuals living with paralysis, particularly spinal cord injuries.
Rowing is an ideal physical activity for disabled people at many different levels of ability,� said Paul Stillman, vice president of the hospital. We intend to use this program as a means to enhance life-long fitness and self-esteem for disabled individuals throughout the region.�
The grant will fund the purchase of three adaptive rowing shells and other necessary equipment. The shells will be based at the Greater Hartford Jaycees Community Boathouse in Hartfords Riverside Park. Staff from The Rehabilitation Hospital will work with Riverfront Recapture and the Connecticut Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association to promote the program and to enlist disabled rowers.
The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation is committed to funding research that develops treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. The foundation also vigorously works to improve the quality of life for people living with disabilities through its grants program, paralysis resource center and advocacy efforts.
The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut is a 60-bed comprehensive medical rehabilitation facility located on the Mount Sinai Campus of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. It offers major inpatient and outpatient programs in traumatic brain injury, stroke/neurological rehabilitation, sports medicine and general rehabilitation, including spinal cord injury and orthopedics.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Wall Street Journal August 12th, 2005
How Indoor Rowing Satisfies
An Executive's Urge to Compete
August 11, 2005
What's Your Workout? is an Online Journal column that looks at busy businesspeople's fitness routines. Here, we talk with Steve Goodman about how he makes indoor-rowing a priority despite heavy business-travel demands.
THE EXECUTIVE
Steve Goodman, 55 years old, is global director of project controls, which involves planning and forecasting the project costs, for J. Ray McDermott, an offshore marine facilities company headquartered in Houston. He and his wife live there and have four children ages 30, 29, 25 and 23.
THE WORKOUT
Over the past four years, Mr. Goodman has rowed 3.5 million meters (2,175 miles or about the distance between New York and Salt Lake City). Yet not one meter has been rowed on water. Mr. Goodman prefers to work out on an erg, an indoor rowing machine, which works every muscle group while providing an intense cardiovascular workout.
Steve Goodman uses the erg at the Grand Hyatt Hotel gym in Singapore
It's not that he doesn't like the water -- he does. But Mr. Goodman chose indoor rowing because the erg is a ubiquitous piece of gym equipment.
Since his business-travel schedule takes him to places like Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Batam; Baku, Azerbaijan and Singapore several times a year, he needed a workout that he could do no matter where he was visiting. "I have been able to find ergs all over the world," he says. "I went to Batam, an island in Indonesia, and went down to the hotel's exercise room… and there's an erg," he says.
Mr. Goodman likes to get to the hotel gym early, even before it opens, to make sure he doesn't have to wait to use the rower. When at home in Houston, he is up by 5 a.m. most mornings to row 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) on his Concept2 erg while listening to Country music. For him it's more than getting an early start -- it's all about the competition.
Owners of Concept2 rowing machines can visit the company's Web site to log how many meters they've rowed, compare their workouts to other rowers', and compete for prizes. They can also rank themselves by age; Mr. Goodman says he's in the 50th percentile for his age group.
One of his biggest motivators is Concept2's Holiday Challenge, a contest where rowers try to log 200,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those who complete the task receive a Holiday Challenge T-shirt, a coveted prize, Mr. Goodman says. He has earned a T-Shirt each of the past three years. To win, he ramps up his workout schedule to an hour and a half twice a day, seven days a week.
"When I travel there's a little ego, so I wear the Christmas Challenge T-shirt," he says, noting he frequently meets other rowers at hotel gyms in the early morning.
THE DIET
At 6 feet 2 inches and 250 pounds, Mr. Goodman says he doesn't pay much attention to making sure his diet is balanced, admitting he piles his plate high at the breakfast buffets in the hotels where he's staying. "I eat too much," he says.
THE ROUTINE
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 30 minute row
At home, a typical breakfast is a buttered bagel and sugared cereal like Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs with 2% milk. A favorite splurge for lunch is sopressata salami, jalapeño cheese and a Wickle (a spicy gourmet pickle) on potato bread and a piece of fruit on the side.
When visiting a different country, he likes trying new brews, not foods special to the region. He looks forward to a particular beer in each destination: Tiger in Singapore, Stella Artois in Dubai (it isn't available in Texas).
THE COST
"As exercise goes, erging is very inexpensive and is something you can approach in stages," says Mr. Goodman.
His Model C Concept2 rower cost $800. He usually wears lycra shorts and an old, loose T-shirt or his Christmas Challenge shirt. Mr. Goodman is considering buying weights so he can add two days of strength training to complement to his cardio routine.
THE EFFORT
It was Mr. Goodman's daughter, a former competitive rower in college, who got him interested in the erg. Although he bought the equipment for her to use when she came home from school for holiday breaks, soon she was giving him lessons on technique. "She still says I'm far from perfect," he says.
QUESTIONS ON FITNESS?
E-mail your questions on working out and dieting, plus suggestions and thoughts on the column, to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com.
Read previous installments of this column.
Mr. Goodman likes indoor rowing because the workouts are cardio focused, not dependent on the weather and easy on his knees -- since running and hiking, two of his favorite ways to exercise, were becoming more of a physical challenge for him in recent years.
He continues to set both short- and long-term goals. By year's end he would like to have logged a total of 5 million meters.
One big goal is to compete in the Crash-B Sprints, the indoor rowing world championship annually held in Boston. "I'd have to be a CEO and control my own schedule to be in that good of shape, but that would make a great Christmas newsletter," he says. "If I set my mind to it I could do it."
THE BENEFIT
Mr. Goodman says he feels great after rowing. "The first third is always hard because I'm not loose, but by the time I get to the end I'm really flowing and feel really good," he says.
Plus, "You don't get a Challenge T-shirt from lifting or sweating on the StairMaster," he says.
Write to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com
An Executive's Urge to Compete
August 11, 2005
What's Your Workout? is an Online Journal column that looks at busy businesspeople's fitness routines. Here, we talk with Steve Goodman about how he makes indoor-rowing a priority despite heavy business-travel demands.
THE EXECUTIVE
Steve Goodman, 55 years old, is global director of project controls, which involves planning and forecasting the project costs, for J. Ray McDermott, an offshore marine facilities company headquartered in Houston. He and his wife live there and have four children ages 30, 29, 25 and 23.
THE WORKOUT
Over the past four years, Mr. Goodman has rowed 3.5 million meters (2,175 miles or about the distance between New York and Salt Lake City). Yet not one meter has been rowed on water. Mr. Goodman prefers to work out on an erg, an indoor rowing machine, which works every muscle group while providing an intense cardiovascular workout.
Steve Goodman uses the erg at the Grand Hyatt Hotel gym in Singapore
It's not that he doesn't like the water -- he does. But Mr. Goodman chose indoor rowing because the erg is a ubiquitous piece of gym equipment.
Since his business-travel schedule takes him to places like Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Batam; Baku, Azerbaijan and Singapore several times a year, he needed a workout that he could do no matter where he was visiting. "I have been able to find ergs all over the world," he says. "I went to Batam, an island in Indonesia, and went down to the hotel's exercise room… and there's an erg," he says.
Mr. Goodman likes to get to the hotel gym early, even before it opens, to make sure he doesn't have to wait to use the rower. When at home in Houston, he is up by 5 a.m. most mornings to row 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) on his Concept2 erg while listening to Country music. For him it's more than getting an early start -- it's all about the competition.
Owners of Concept2 rowing machines can visit the company's Web site to log how many meters they've rowed, compare their workouts to other rowers', and compete for prizes. They can also rank themselves by age; Mr. Goodman says he's in the 50th percentile for his age group.
One of his biggest motivators is Concept2's Holiday Challenge, a contest where rowers try to log 200,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those who complete the task receive a Holiday Challenge T-shirt, a coveted prize, Mr. Goodman says. He has earned a T-Shirt each of the past three years. To win, he ramps up his workout schedule to an hour and a half twice a day, seven days a week.
"When I travel there's a little ego, so I wear the Christmas Challenge T-shirt," he says, noting he frequently meets other rowers at hotel gyms in the early morning.
THE DIET
At 6 feet 2 inches and 250 pounds, Mr. Goodman says he doesn't pay much attention to making sure his diet is balanced, admitting he piles his plate high at the breakfast buffets in the hotels where he's staying. "I eat too much," he says.
THE ROUTINE
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 30 minute row
At home, a typical breakfast is a buttered bagel and sugared cereal like Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs with 2% milk. A favorite splurge for lunch is sopressata salami, jalapeño cheese and a Wickle (a spicy gourmet pickle) on potato bread and a piece of fruit on the side.
When visiting a different country, he likes trying new brews, not foods special to the region. He looks forward to a particular beer in each destination: Tiger in Singapore, Stella Artois in Dubai (it isn't available in Texas).
THE COST
"As exercise goes, erging is very inexpensive and is something you can approach in stages," says Mr. Goodman.
His Model C Concept2 rower cost $800. He usually wears lycra shorts and an old, loose T-shirt or his Christmas Challenge shirt. Mr. Goodman is considering buying weights so he can add two days of strength training to complement to his cardio routine.
THE EFFORT
It was Mr. Goodman's daughter, a former competitive rower in college, who got him interested in the erg. Although he bought the equipment for her to use when she came home from school for holiday breaks, soon she was giving him lessons on technique. "She still says I'm far from perfect," he says.
QUESTIONS ON FITNESS?
E-mail your questions on working out and dieting, plus suggestions and thoughts on the column, to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com.
Read previous installments of this column.
Mr. Goodman likes indoor rowing because the workouts are cardio focused, not dependent on the weather and easy on his knees -- since running and hiking, two of his favorite ways to exercise, were becoming more of a physical challenge for him in recent years.
He continues to set both short- and long-term goals. By year's end he would like to have logged a total of 5 million meters.
One big goal is to compete in the Crash-B Sprints, the indoor rowing world championship annually held in Boston. "I'd have to be a CEO and control my own schedule to be in that good of shape, but that would make a great Christmas newsletter," he says. "If I set my mind to it I could do it."
THE BENEFIT
Mr. Goodman says he feels great after rowing. "The first third is always hard because I'm not loose, but by the time I get to the end I'm really flowing and feel really good," he says.
Plus, "You don't get a Challenge T-shirt from lifting or sweating on the StairMaster," he says.
Write to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Conditioning Program for Rowing Scholarship at the Iron Oarsman
Athletic Scholarship Opportunity
at the
IRON OARSMAN
On August 23rd, at 7pm, we will be introducing our new junior indoor rowing and conditioning program oriented toward a college rowing scholarship. The goal is to take students to a new and higher level of fitness and mental conditioning in order to produce a top of the line 2k ERG score.
What is a 2k ERG score and why is it valuable?
The 2K ERG score is the amount of time it takes an individual to row a distance of 2000 meters (1.4 miles) on the rowing machine also known as an erg.
The value comes into play on a college application. Acceptance to top-level universities is growing more difficult. Give your son or daughter the extra edge on an application to be admitted to a top-level university and/or receive an athletic scholarship. A good 2K ERG score will do that.
The Iron Oarsman formula: GPA + SAT + ERG = Top-of-line University!!
What and who is the IRON OARSMAN?
The IRON OARSMAN is the premier indoor rowing facility, located on 17th Street in Costa Mesa, California. It is owned and operated by Xeno Muller.
Xeno has won the 1996 Olympic gold and the 2000 Olympic silver in the men’s single scull. He is the holder of the current Olympic single scull speed record. Xeno’s international elite rowing resume is over a decade long full of gold. He is 10 time national champion. Recruited by Brown University for his power on the ERG, Xeno graduated in 1995. The focus in his life has now changed from fierce competitor to coach, mentor, husband and father of three.
In addition, the Iron Oarsman provides further training tools: Lactate testing, on water coaching, stroke analysis, X-training, and weight training.
At this point enrollement is limited to 14.
We invite you to attend our open house and learn about our formula for success.
OPEN HOUSE
LOCATION IRON OARSMAN 400 EAST 17th STREET COSTA MESA CALIFORNIA
The Date: August 23rd, 2005
The Time: 7PM
R.S.V.P.
XENO 949-400-7630
at the
IRON OARSMAN
On August 23rd, at 7pm, we will be introducing our new junior indoor rowing and conditioning program oriented toward a college rowing scholarship. The goal is to take students to a new and higher level of fitness and mental conditioning in order to produce a top of the line 2k ERG score.
What is a 2k ERG score and why is it valuable?
The 2K ERG score is the amount of time it takes an individual to row a distance of 2000 meters (1.4 miles) on the rowing machine also known as an erg.
The value comes into play on a college application. Acceptance to top-level universities is growing more difficult. Give your son or daughter the extra edge on an application to be admitted to a top-level university and/or receive an athletic scholarship. A good 2K ERG score will do that.
The Iron Oarsman formula: GPA + SAT + ERG = Top-of-line University!!
What and who is the IRON OARSMAN?
The IRON OARSMAN is the premier indoor rowing facility, located on 17th Street in Costa Mesa, California. It is owned and operated by Xeno Muller.
Xeno has won the 1996 Olympic gold and the 2000 Olympic silver in the men’s single scull. He is the holder of the current Olympic single scull speed record. Xeno’s international elite rowing resume is over a decade long full of gold. He is 10 time national champion. Recruited by Brown University for his power on the ERG, Xeno graduated in 1995. The focus in his life has now changed from fierce competitor to coach, mentor, husband and father of three.
In addition, the Iron Oarsman provides further training tools: Lactate testing, on water coaching, stroke analysis, X-training, and weight training.
At this point enrollement is limited to 14.
We invite you to attend our open house and learn about our formula for success.
OPEN HOUSE
LOCATION IRON OARSMAN 400 EAST 17th STREET COSTA MESA CALIFORNIA
The Date: August 23rd, 2005
The Time: 7PM
R.S.V.P.
XENO 949-400-7630
Saturday, July 30, 2005
I guess not only elderberries have lactate reducing properties
On the juice: Players look for boost at $300 a litre
EXCLUSIVE, by KELVIN HEALEY
31jul05
AFL players are using a controversial "wonder drink" that supposedly boosts endurance.
Western Bulldogs players are taking part in a clinical trial of the herbal elixir Lact-Away – dubbed "jump juice" by some players.
The club is one of four AFL teams experimenting with the expensive anti-inflammatory supplement which has been attributed to a winning streak by NRL side Manly Sea Eagles.
Lact-Away is made from an extract of French maritime pine tree bark and has claimed properties of stopping muscle fatigue and reducing lactic acid build-up.
The Bulldogs, Brisbane, Port Adelaide and Sydney have all used the herbal remedy, which costs about $300 a litre, while Collingwood and Richmond have had discussions with the product's distributors.
The Bulldogs are conducting the testing in conjunction with Victoria University.
A club spokeswoman said: "It is a clinical trial which involves treadmill and blood testing and gas analysis.
"We hope to get the results in late September and are waiting on the outcome of the results before we make a decision on whether we will invest in it further."
Vic Davidson, who is part of a Sydney-based partnership which holds exclusive distribution rights for the product, said the trial involved 40 players.
Former Sydney Swans player Troy Luff said he began using Lact-Away in 2000, when the distributors first bought rights to the herbal drink. Luff, 35, who now plays football in the Sydney metropolitan league, said it had cut his game recovery time from three days to one.
He said Brownlow medallists Jason Akermanis and Michael Voss were both enthusiastic users.
The Australian Sports Drug Agency website confirms Lact-Away has been cleared of banned substances by a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
EXCLUSIVE, by KELVIN HEALEY
31jul05
AFL players are using a controversial "wonder drink" that supposedly boosts endurance.
Western Bulldogs players are taking part in a clinical trial of the herbal elixir Lact-Away – dubbed "jump juice" by some players.
The club is one of four AFL teams experimenting with the expensive anti-inflammatory supplement which has been attributed to a winning streak by NRL side Manly Sea Eagles.
Lact-Away is made from an extract of French maritime pine tree bark and has claimed properties of stopping muscle fatigue and reducing lactic acid build-up.
The Bulldogs, Brisbane, Port Adelaide and Sydney have all used the herbal remedy, which costs about $300 a litre, while Collingwood and Richmond have had discussions with the product's distributors.
The Bulldogs are conducting the testing in conjunction with Victoria University.
A club spokeswoman said: "It is a clinical trial which involves treadmill and blood testing and gas analysis.
"We hope to get the results in late September and are waiting on the outcome of the results before we make a decision on whether we will invest in it further."
Vic Davidson, who is part of a Sydney-based partnership which holds exclusive distribution rights for the product, said the trial involved 40 players.
Former Sydney Swans player Troy Luff said he began using Lact-Away in 2000, when the distributors first bought rights to the herbal drink. Luff, 35, who now plays football in the Sydney metropolitan league, said it had cut his game recovery time from three days to one.
He said Brownlow medallists Jason Akermanis and Michael Voss were both enthusiastic users.
The Australian Sports Drug Agency website confirms Lact-Away has been cleared of banned substances by a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Ages and Stages: Despite aerobic decline, exercise keeps you young
Al Bello/Getty Images
A 93-year-old man does his morning laps at the Freeport Recreation Center in Freeport, N.Y.
Posted 7/28/05
By Cory Hatch
As 33-year-old Lance Armstrong heads into retirement after his final 2,233-mile bike trek across France, the hyperfit Texan may look young, but his lungs of steel probably don't work like they used to. Recently, researchers in Baltimore found that aerobic fitness in both men and women declines faster with each passing decade, even for people who exercise.
More from Health & Medicine
Researchers periodically measured the aerobic fitness of 810 healthy men and women ages 21 to 87. About once every two years, participants reported to the laboratory and ran on a treadmill until physically exhausted. The study, part of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, is unique in that researchers followed the same individuals for as long as 20 years. While the participants ran, the scientists recorded how much oxygen they inhaled and how much carbon dioxide they exhaled. They then measured aerobic fitness by calculating each person's VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen used per minute. While the VO2 max declined only 3 percent to 6 percent per decade for people in their 20s and 30s, that rate increased to more than 20 percent per decade for people 70 and older, according to scientists at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging. The study, which appeared in the online version of Circulation July 25, showed that women's aerobic fitness didn't decline quite as sharply as men's.
Unfortunately for Lance, armchair athletes showed no worse a rate of aerobic decline than those who exercised frequently.
"The picture is a lot more pessimistic than we thought," says Edward Lakatta, coauthor of the study and director of the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science at the National Institute on Aging.
But the news for athletes isn't all bad. People who exercise regularly have an aerobic capacity that's 15 to 25 percent higher than that of their sedentary counterparts. Further, it's never too late to start. "Aerobic capacity can be increased at all ages," Lakatta explains. "Senior athletes increase their oxygen capacity by about a third. It makes them look like sedentary younger people. The heart can pump stronger and the body's tissues can extract more oxygen when you're conditioned."
Exercise can also help prevent a number of different diseases including depression, coronary artery disease, stroke, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes.
"The more you exercise, the better off you are," says independent researcher Patricia Bloom, associate professor at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Elderly people don't just benefit from running laps around the track. Other studies show that, unlike younger adults, the elderly can increase their aerobic capacity by lifting weights. Even lifting light weights can help reduce the muscle loss commonly associated with aging.
"Walking around the yard probably isn't enough," says another independent expert, Dan Bensimhon, director of the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Laboratory at Duke University Medical Center. "For anybody over 50, you probably need a combination of both [cardiovascular and strength training]."
While Bensimhon says the Baltimore study is one of the best on the effects of aging, he urges caution because the study relied on participants to self-report their levels of exercise. He also doesn't want people to become discouraged.
"I don't want people to come away from this article thinking that they have to start exercising when they're 30," he says.
A 93-year-old man does his morning laps at the Freeport Recreation Center in Freeport, N.Y.
Posted 7/28/05
By Cory Hatch
As 33-year-old Lance Armstrong heads into retirement after his final 2,233-mile bike trek across France, the hyperfit Texan may look young, but his lungs of steel probably don't work like they used to. Recently, researchers in Baltimore found that aerobic fitness in both men and women declines faster with each passing decade, even for people who exercise.
More from Health & Medicine
Researchers periodically measured the aerobic fitness of 810 healthy men and women ages 21 to 87. About once every two years, participants reported to the laboratory and ran on a treadmill until physically exhausted. The study, part of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, is unique in that researchers followed the same individuals for as long as 20 years. While the participants ran, the scientists recorded how much oxygen they inhaled and how much carbon dioxide they exhaled. They then measured aerobic fitness by calculating each person's VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen used per minute. While the VO2 max declined only 3 percent to 6 percent per decade for people in their 20s and 30s, that rate increased to more than 20 percent per decade for people 70 and older, according to scientists at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging. The study, which appeared in the online version of Circulation July 25, showed that women's aerobic fitness didn't decline quite as sharply as men's.
Unfortunately for Lance, armchair athletes showed no worse a rate of aerobic decline than those who exercised frequently.
"The picture is a lot more pessimistic than we thought," says Edward Lakatta, coauthor of the study and director of the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science at the National Institute on Aging.
But the news for athletes isn't all bad. People who exercise regularly have an aerobic capacity that's 15 to 25 percent higher than that of their sedentary counterparts. Further, it's never too late to start. "Aerobic capacity can be increased at all ages," Lakatta explains. "Senior athletes increase their oxygen capacity by about a third. It makes them look like sedentary younger people. The heart can pump stronger and the body's tissues can extract more oxygen when you're conditioned."
Exercise can also help prevent a number of different diseases including depression, coronary artery disease, stroke, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes.
"The more you exercise, the better off you are," says independent researcher Patricia Bloom, associate professor at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Elderly people don't just benefit from running laps around the track. Other studies show that, unlike younger adults, the elderly can increase their aerobic capacity by lifting weights. Even lifting light weights can help reduce the muscle loss commonly associated with aging.
"Walking around the yard probably isn't enough," says another independent expert, Dan Bensimhon, director of the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Laboratory at Duke University Medical Center. "For anybody over 50, you probably need a combination of both [cardiovascular and strength training]."
While Bensimhon says the Baltimore study is one of the best on the effects of aging, he urges caution because the study relied on participants to self-report their levels of exercise. He also doesn't want people to become discouraged.
"I don't want people to come away from this article thinking that they have to start exercising when they're 30," he says.
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