Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better with Age

&gt; Of course, this type of single-snapshot-in-time study can’t tell us whether the athletes’ training actually changed their muscle health over the years or if the athletes were somehow blessed from birth with better muscles, allowing them to become superb masters athletes.<p>I really appreciate this kind of honesty. It&#x27;s rare that a popular article explicitly points out possible confounders.

I sure hope so! I&#x27;m 42 now, and I just came back in from a bike ride - only my second since a 5 month layoff caused by a combination of weather, travel and shoulder surgery - and I&#x27;m beat. And gawd was I slllooooowwwww out there tonight. Uuuggghhh.<p>But hey, I know it will come back with time, and - more to the point - I know how important it is to stay active. After the whole heart-attack thing back in 2014, I&#x27;m pretty committed to staying active from here on out. Keeping my heart healthy is priority #1, anything else is just gravy at this point.

It&#x27;s my understanding from my reading of pop-science books (specifically, Nick Lanes) that mitochondria can be selected for <i>within your own body</i>.<p>As you age, mutations naturally produce slightly broken mitochondria who do a slightly worse job at making energy. However, if you are exercising vigorously, those poorly functioning mitochondria will die off (apoptosis) and you will maintain a (relatively) &quot;fitter&quot; population of mitochondria inside your muscles, as those are the ones that are left to reproduce.<p>If you don&#x27;t ever exercise, you&#x27;ll probably feel fine (all else being equal) but secretly, you&#x27;re cultivating a weak population of mitochondria within your own muscle cells. At some point the weakness of that population will become apparent.

&quot;Of course, this type of single-snapshot-in-time study can’t tell us whether the athletes’ training actually changed their muscle health over the years or if the athletes were somehow blessed from birth with better muscles, allowing them to become superb masters athletes.&quot;<p>I really wish they hadn&#x27;t used world class athletes, who almost always have major genetic advantages.

I thought this was taken for granted but I&#x27;m glad it&#x27;s been confirmed and we understand the neural process behind it.<p>It&#x27;s a good motivation for working out. I often think: &quot;I&#x27;m squatting 180lbs now, so that I can sit down onto and stand up from a toilet when I&#x27;m 80.&quot;

From the paper:<p>&quot;World champion master athletes in their 9th decade of life had a greater number of surviving motor units, reduced collateral reinnervation, better neuromuscular transmission stability and a greater amount of excitable muscle mass as compared with age-matched controls.&quot;<p>and<p>&quot;The Masters Athletes (MA) consisted of track and field athletes ranked in the top 4 of their respective events at the world masters championships...&quot;<p>I&#x27;m not sure how surprised I&#x27;m supposed to be about people who were world-class athletes some time within the past ~40 years ago having above average strength.<p>Though, I understand that you can&#x27;t easily pull off a randomized controlled trial (long-term) for exercise.

As someone who has recently quit smoking (6 months) and started a daily regimen of 1.5 hrs of serious cycling (including 45 min up a steep incline) at 2000m (6500ft) altitude at age 34 (2 weeks down; with a couple of breaks for alternatives like hikes or longer bike trips), this article makes me feel like I&#x27;ve made the right decision, despite daily aching muscles. I&#x27;m using the hope of joining a group cycle trip across Tibet to Nepal from southwest China[0] in September as a mental crutch.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20091026172350&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.geocities.com&#x2F;graydonandjoanne&#x2F;yunnan-tibet.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20091026172350&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.geocit...</a>

This seems fairly obvious but it&#x27;s good to have it confirmed as I&#x27;m 60 now. I usually cycle about 100 miles a week and I&#x27;m glad I&#x27;m not wasting my time!

People often ask me if I worry about tearing muscles&#x2F;sore joints when I run, ride my bike or lift weights. In college, I kind of worried about those things, but now sitting in a chair from 8-10 hours a day makes me worry way more about heart health&#x2F;blood pressure, etc.<p>I just kind of hope to offset all of that sedentary time in front of the monitor, and indeed do hope that all this activity benefits me down the line, be it muscle elasticity, heart health, lung function, whatever.

Take hot water bath and go for one hour early morning walk;