Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) and body composition have been shown to deteriorate with age. How much of the decline is attributable to aging and how much is affected by reduced physical activity is not known. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the aerobic capacity and body composition of 24 master track athletes and to evaluate the relationship to age and maintenance of training over a 10-yr period. The subjects (50-82 yr of age) were retested after a 10.1-yr follow-up (T2). All continued their aerobic training, but only 11 were still highly competitive (COMP) and continued to train at the same intensity. The other 13 athletes studied became noncompetitive (post-COMP) and reduced their training intensity. The results showed the COMP group to maintain its VO2max and maximum O2 pulse while the post-COMP group showed a significant decline (54.2-53.3 vs. 52.5-45.9 ml X kg-1 X min-1; 20.7-20.8 vs. 22.4-20.0 ml/beat from test one (T1) to T2 for the COMP vs. post-COMP groups, respectively). Maximum heart rate declined 7 beats/min for both groups. Body composition showed no difference between groups from T1 to T2. For both groups body weight declined slightly (70.0-68.9 kg), percent fat increased significantly (13.1-15.1%), and fat-free weight decreased significantly (61.0-59.0 kg). Thus, when training was maintained, aerobic capacity remained unchanged over the follow-up period. Body composition changed for both groups and may have been related to aging and/or the type of training performed.

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The purpose of this study was to determine if prostaglandins regulate alterations in muscle nutritive blood flow response to short‐term exercise training in young and aged individuals. Local thigh muscle nutritive flow and 6‐keto‐prostaglandin F1α (PGF1α) were monitored using microdialysis. Dialysate samples were collected continuously during acute exercise before and after 7 days of exercise training from 27 healthy subjects (6 young men (YM), 8 young women (YW), 7 aged men (AM), and 6 aged women (AW)). The exercise regimen consisted of 7 consecutive days of training for 1hr/day at 70% VO2peak. PGF1α content was higher during exercise after, compared to before, training in YM (43.6 ± 1.9 vs. 36.4 ± 1.3 pg/ml, respectively; P<.05) without a significant difference in nutritive flow. PGF1α content and nutritive flow during exercise was not changed in response to exercise training in YW, AW, and AM. There was a higher PGF1α content during exercise in YM than in YW and AM after training (43.6 ± 1.9 vs. 35.7 ± 1.1 and 33.6 ± 0.7 pg/ml, respectively; P<.05), but there were no differences in nutritive flow between these groups. These data demonstrate that PGF1α response to acute exercise increases with training in YM, and suggest changes in exercise‐induced PGF1α with training may not result in training‐induced alterations in muscle nutritive blood flow response to acute exercise.NIH AG‐19209 (Hickner); MD Choi supported by EAS