Older Runners Retain Youthful Running Economy despite Biomechanical Differences
Older Runners Retain Youthful Running Economy despite Biomechanical Differences
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DOI：
10.1249/mss.0000000000000820
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发表时间：
2016-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Ortega, Justus D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Beck, Owen N.;Kipp, Shalaya;Ortega, Justus D.
65岁通常标志着步行经济能力受损的开始。然而，65岁以上的跑步经济性尚未得到评估。此外，跑步经济性的一个关键决定因素是站立时腿部弹性能量的弹簧式储存和返回，这与腿部僵硬度有关。因此，我们调查了65岁以上的跑步者在不同的跑步速度下是否能保持年轻的跑步经济性和/或腿部僵硬度。方法15名年轻跑步者和15名老年跑步者分别在2.01、2.46和2.91 m中心点s（-1）上进行力测量。我们测量了他们的代谢能量消耗率（即代谢力）、地面反作用力和跨步运动学。结果在不同的速度范围内，青年和老年跑步者在跑步经济性上只有很小的差异。统计上，年龄较大的跑步者消耗的代谢能量比年轻的跑步者少2%到9% （P = 0.012）。此外，在不同的速度范围内，老年跑步者的腿部僵硬度比年轻跑步者低10% ~ 20% (P = 0.002)，并且与年轻跑步者相比，老年跑步者的腿部僵硬度随着速度的增加而降低（P < 0.001）。结论：65岁以上的跑步者尽管存在生物力学差异，但仍能保持年轻的跑步经济性。可能是剧烈运动，如跑步，可以防止与年龄相关的肌肉效率退化，因此可以使日常活动更容易。
PurposeSixty-five years of age typically marks the onset of impaired walking economy. However, running economy has not been assessed beyond the age of 65 yr. Furthermore, a critical determinant of running economy is the spring-like storage and return of elastic energy from the leg during stance, which is related to leg stiffness. Therefore, we investigated whether runners older than 65 yr retain youthful running economy and/or leg stiffness across running speeds.MethodsFifteen young and 15 older runners ran on a force-instrumented treadmill at 2.01, 2.46, and 2.91 m center dot s(-1). We measured their rates of metabolic energy consumption (i.e., metabolic power), ground reaction forces, and stride kinematics.ResultsThere were only small differences in running economy between young and older runners across the range of speeds. Statistically, the older runners consumed 2% to 9% less metabolic energy than the young runners across speeds (P = 0.012). Also, the leg stiffness of older runners was 10% to 20% lower than that of young runners across the range of speeds (P = 0.002), and in contrast to the younger runners, the leg stiffness of older runners decreased with speed (P < 0.001).ConclusionsRunners beyond 65 yr of age maintain youthful running economy despite biomechanical differences. It may be that vigorous exercise, such as running, prevents the age related deterioration of muscular efficiency and, therefore, may make everyday activities easier.