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Lifelong Endurance Exercise as a Countermeasure Against Age-Related \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) Decline: Physiological Overview and Insights from Masters Athletes

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Abstract

Maximum oxygen consumption (\(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\)) is not only an indicator of endurance performance, but also a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease and mortality. This physiological parameter is known to decrease with aging. In turn, physical exercise might attenuate the rate of aging-related decline in \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\), which in light of the global population aging is of major clinical relevance, especially at advanced ages. In this narrative review, we summarize the evidence available from masters athletes about the role of lifelong endurance exercise on aging-related \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) decline, with examples of the highest \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) values reported in the scientific literature for athletes across different ages (e.g., 35 ml·kg−1·min−1 in a centenarian cyclist). These data suggest that a linear decrease in \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) might be possible if physical exercise loads are kept consistently high through the entire life span, with \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) values remaining higher than those of the general population across all ages. We also summarize the main physiological changes that occur with inactive aging at different system levels—pulmonary and cardiovascular function, blood O2 carrying capacity, skeletal muscle capillary density and oxidative capacity—and negatively influence \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\), and review how lifelong exercise can attenuate or even prevent most—but apparently not all (e.g., maximum heart rate decline)—of them. In summary, although aging seems to be invariably associated with a progressive decline in \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\), maintaining high levels of physical exercise along the life span slows the multi-systemic deterioration that is commonly observed in inactive individuals, thereby attenuating age-related \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) decline.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Adrián Castillo García (http://www.fissac.com) for designing the figures included in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiology Unit, Department of Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Ctra. Barcelona, Km 33,600, 28871, Alcalá De Henares, Madrid, Spain

    Pedro L. Valenzuela

  2. Department of Sport and Health, Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD), Madrid, Spain

    Pedro L. Valenzuela

  3. Human Performance Lab, Schulthess Klinik, Zurich, Switzerland

    Nicola A. Maffiuletti

  4. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Michael J. Joyner

  5. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Alejandro Lucia

  6. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital 12 de Octubre (‘i + 12’), CIBERFES, Madrid, Spain

    Alejandro Lucia

  7. INSERM UMR1093, Cognition Action et Plasticité Sensorimotrice, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France

    Romuald Lepers

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  1. Pedro L. Valenzuela
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Correspondence to Pedro L. Valenzuela.

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Funding

The work of Pedro Valenzuela is supported by University of Acalá (FPI2016) and the research by Alejandro Lucia on aging is funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS, Grant PI15/00558) and cofunded by ‘Fondos FEDER’. No other specific sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.

Conflict of interest

Pedro L. Valenzuela, Nicola A. Maffiuletti, Michael J. Joyner, Alejandro Lucia and Romuald Lepers declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

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Valenzuela, P.L., Maffiuletti, N.A., Joyner, M.J. et al. Lifelong Endurance Exercise as a Countermeasure Against Age-Related \(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2 {\text{max}}}}\) Decline: Physiological Overview and Insights from Masters Athletes. Sports Med 50, 703–716 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01252-0

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