How Cycling makes you Young
I've just read an amazing scientific paper devoted to our favorite passion.
No, not the coffee... Right, Cycling!!!
If you don't like to read too much and miss your daily spin, the punchline is:
"The muscles of 80 years-old passionate cycler look like the muscles of 30 years-old people"
Thus...
Now, the scientific part:
125 active (over-active) cyclists aged 55-79 were analysed using:
- ATP-ase activity - to see how much energy their muscles can handle with
- Immunohistochemistry - to see their capillary density
- Western blot - to see their proteins
- And of course, some morphometry, just to see the size and shape
What we already knew?
People get weaker when they are old, that's common sense.
But no, scientific studies were actually inconclusive whether it's caused by simple inevitable ageing, or by the lack of training.
For both sexes, there was no age-related change in the proportion or area of type I or II fibres (Figure 1d–e; p > .05 in all cases) and no effect of age on the CSA of either type I or II muscle fibres
What are those fibers?
- Type I, slow-contracting fibers, responsible for aerobic performances
- Type IIa, fast-contracting fibers, that also work on oxygen
- Type IIb, fast-contracting fibers, but they work in anaerobic conditions
For more details, check the link
In other words, there is no physiological reason why older people would lose their strength and endurance.
They simply need to train.
I quote:
The monthly distance cycled by male subjects was weakly but significantly correlated with type I fibre proportion
What about the endurance?
In regard to cardiorespiratory parameters, VO2max and O2 uptake kinetics were found to be positively correlated with type I fibre proportion and area in males
If there is a normal amount of Type 1 - VO2 performances remain the same
In conclusion:
we found that strong associations between age and physiological function were not observed, in males or females, for the majority of variables
Live active, healthy life and stay young!!!
Like this amazing grandpa from Serbia who is doing free climbing in the age of 90! link
Or this French super-grandpa who can pace 14 mph on a bike.
In 105 years of age! link
This is me and...
Peter Sagan! on the cobles of Paris-Roubaix, see you soon, again
References
- Pollock, Ross D., et al. "Properties of the vastus lateralis muscle in relation to age and physiological function in master cyclists aged 55–79 years." Aging Cell (2018). link
I used to love bicycling, I would do 150-200 km easily on my prime. But then I got osteochondritis dissecans on my knees and had to quit my favorite sport, now i just do 5-10 km after my surgeries as I can't risk to have the same problem again.
Please enjoy this gift as much as you can :)
It's sad to hear that :(
Yes that a great idea. I go to work sometimes with my bicycle.
I remember one of your first posts, there was a bike, right?
yes. Have a nice day
i wanted to comment something but the 90 year grandpa just left me speechless.
You are right sir. If we don't have any time to do physical activity like gym, playing games then obviously we can go to work by cycling. It is a good aerobic exercise and good for legs muscles and ligaments🙂
Nepal? You probably have many awesome scenery paths for cycling
Nop sir. The capital and other cities are full of vehicles and air pollution, land pollution. The system here sucks😑. There are few place maybe 2 or 3 to enjoy cycling with friends on long distance basis🙂
You are upvoted and resteemed by Thank You Bicycle - SteemIt Cycling Community!
It is our mission to spread good vibes of cycling across Steemit. We support you!
Keep those wheels rolling and enjoy the ride!!
If you want to know more about our mission click here.
If you want to join us, click here.
If you do not like our activity, reply with STOP to this and we will leave you alone
Thanks colleagues :D
But I learnt biking isn't good for male's fertility?
That could be an excellent topic for some future post, because there are several different contributing factors, including the type of wear, style of riding (road cycling vs mountain bike) and the amount of kilometers. Thanks! :)
A few years ago I was riding a bike, I visited neighboring towns. And in that period I was healthy, and I thought that nobody could do anything to me. I think again that I'm going to ride a bike.
Explore the world !
I dobrodošao na SteemIt
Hvala :)
I love biking , even I work part time by delivering food . So literally I get paid when I bike and I look fit too , nice info though x
Doble the benefits... I know a guy with 4000 $ Specialized bike doing delivery. Man, what a machine...
That’s extreme man :o I would like to see that beast , may be in your future posts :D x
Indian in Finland, man how you survive in that north :D
I moved from Serbia to Northern France and it's already too north for me
Ahahah just carrying sauna with me all the times ahahah 😂😂😁. Have you been here or not yet :D ?
No, but I started to go swimming (although I was almost non-swimmer) because that was the only way to warm up properly :D
Ahaha true and I’m not very good at swimming either :/ 😂
Challenge for the day 1: survive
Day two: be faster than some grandma
Day three: win against all the seniors
Day four: try harder!
Day five: you almost drowned, go to the step 1
Day 10: swim a mile - done :D
He's damn fast :)
And here I was just planning to skip the gym today...
Thanks for sharing! Keep pedaling :)
#thankyoubicycle