The 6th Congress of Exercise and Sport Sciences

Rate of Recovery from Prolonged Exercise: Evidence-Based Practice

Irit Markus
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Exercise training in unaccustomed loads or high intensity results in muscle damage. Its consequences start from production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines to reduction in exercise capacity. The majority of research investigating the effect of aging on the rate of recovery has primarily focused on comparing older with younger adults in strength training. Whether the decline in physiological response following prolonged exercise starts in middle age, remains unclear. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate differences in rate of recovery between young (Y) and middle-aged (MA) men. A total of 28 participants completed 60 minutes of downhill running at 10 degrees. Changes in muscle micro-damage using MRI, inflammatory markers, and performance assessments, were measured before and during 48 hours following the downhill running. The young group (age 26.1±2.9) were significantly lower in baseline measures such as waist circumference, years of training and experience in downhill running, and were significantly higher in maximal heart rate (p=0.05), as compared to the middle-aged group (age 43.6±4.01). Changes in performance decreased at IP, 30P, 120P 24H and 48H in both age groups (p=0.05), muscle damage markers showed significant differences compared to baseline in CK at IP, 30P, 120P 24H and 48H in both age groups, and in LDH at IP and 30P in the MA group and at IP in the Y group. Cytokine measures indicated a significant increase at IP and 120P in the MA group compared to baseline, but no significant increase in IL-10 and IL-1RA in either groups. TNF-a decreased significantly from baseline at 30P and 48H in the MA group and at 48H in Y group. This finding was not compatible with the notion that middle-aged runners have a lower rate of recovery compared to young-aged runners following downhill running. As long as athletes are physically active, the physiological changes do not fully occur as expected with aging.

Irit Markus
Irit Markus
Tel Aviv Univesity








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