Mechanical loading is thought to be a determinant of bone mass and geometry. Both ground reaction forces and tibial strains increase with running speed. This study investigates the hypothesis that surrogates of bone strength in male and female master sprinters, middle and long distance runners and race-walkers vary according to discipline-specific mechanical loading from sedentary controls.Bone scans were obtained by peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) from the tibia and from the radius in 106 sprinters, 52 middle distance runners, 93 long distance runners and 49 race-walkers who were competing at master championships, and who were aged between 35 and 94 years. Seventy-five age-matched, sedentary people served as control group.Most athletes of this study had started to practice their athletic discipline after the age of 20, but the current training regime had typically been maintained for more than a decade. As hypothesised, tibia diaphyseal bone mineral content (vBMC), cortical area and polar moment of resistance were largest in sprinters, followed in descending order by middle and long distance runners, race-walkers and controls. When compared to control people, the differences in these measures were always > 13% in male and > 23% in female sprinters (p < 0.001). Similarly, the periosteal circumference in the tibia shaft was larger in male and female sprinters by 4% and 8%, respectively, compared to controls (p < 0.001). Epiphyseal group differences were predominantly found for trabecular vBMC in both male and female sprinters, who had 15% and 18% larger values, respectively, than controls (p < 0.001). In contrast, a reverse pattern was found for cortical vBMD in the tibia, and only few group differences of lower magnitude were found between athletes and control people for the radius.In conclusion, tibial bone strength indicators seemed to be related to exercise-specific peak forces, whilst cortical density was inversely related to running distance. These results may be explained in two, non-exclusive ways. Firstly, greater skeletal size may allow larger muscle forces and power to be exerted, and thus bias towards engagement in athletics. Secondly, musculoskeletal forces related to running can induce skeletal adaptation and thus enhance bone strength.

We have explored the extent to which the maximal velocity of unloaded shortening (V max ), the force generated per unit cross-sectional area (P 0 ) and the curvature of the forcevelocity relationship (a/P 0 in the Hill equation) contribute to differences in peak power of chemically skinned single fibres from the quadriceps muscle of healthy young male subjects. The analysis was restricted to type I and IIA fibres that contained a single type of myosin heavy chain on electrophoretic separation. Force-velocity relationships were determined from isotonic contractions of maximally activated fibres at 15• C. Mean (± s.d.) peak powers were 1.99 ± 0.72 watts per litre (W L −1 ) for type I fibres and 6.92 ± 2.41 W L −1 , for type IIA fibres. The most notable feature, however, was the very large, sevenfold, range of power outputs within a single fibre type. This wide range was a consequence of variations in each of the three components determining power: P 0 , V max and a/P 0 . Within a single fibre type, P 0 varied threefold, and V max and a/P 0 two-to threefold. There were no obvious relationships between P 0 and V max or between P 0 and a/P 0 . However, there was a suggestion of an inverse relationship between a/P 0 and V max , the effect being to reduce, somewhat, the impact of differences in V max on peak power. In searching for the causes of variation in peak power of fibres of the same type, it appears likely that there are two factors, one that affects P 0 and another that leads to variation in both V max and a/P 0 .

In competing Masters track and field athletes, we did not find any influence of age, gender, weight, height, or impact profile on the development of Achilles tendinopathy. Additional research is required to improve our understanding of the causative factors in Achilles tendinopathy.

Hypoxia may be one of the factors underlying muscle dysfunction during ageing and chronic lung and heart failure. Here we tested the hypothesis that chronic hypoxia per se affects contractile properties of single fibres of the soleus and diaphragm muscle. To do this, the force-velocity relationship, rate of force redevelopment and calcium sensitivity of single skinned fibres from normoxic rats and rats exposed to 4 weeks of hypobaric hypoxia (410 mmHg) were investigated. The reduction in maximal force (P(0)) after hypoxia (p=0.031) was more pronounced in type IIa than type I fibres and was mainly attributable to a reduction in fibre cross-sectional area (p=0.044). In type IIa fibres this was aggravated by a reduction in specific tension (p=0.001). The maximal velocity of shortening (V (max)) and shape of the force velocity relation (a/P(0)), however, did not differ between normoxic and hypoxic muscle fibres and the reduction in maximal power of hypoxic fibres (p=0.012) was mainly due to a reduction in P(0). In conclusion, chronic hypoxia causes muscle fibre dysfunction which is not only due to a loss of muscle mass, but also to a diminished force generating capacity of the remaining contractile material. These effects are similar in the soleus and diaphragm muscle, but more pronounced in type IIa than I fibres.

Sprint cyclists and to a lesser extent distance cyclists had greater tibia and radius bone strength surrogates than the controls, with tibial bone measures being well preserved with age in all groups. This suggests that competition-based cycling and the associated training regime is beneficial in preserving average or above-average bone strength surrogates into old age in men.