Running head: CASE STUDY 1
Case Study: Aging Question 2
Kanani Jackson
EXSC 510 Advanced Exercise Physiology
Liberty University
Dr. Kilian
CASE STUDY 2
At the age of 25 years old, Nash Fountain was the world Decathlon champion. He is now
30 years older and has come to me expressing concern about feeling as if he has less power,
strength, speed, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscle mass. Nash was 150 pounds when he
was the world Decathlon champion and 30 years later, he is still at the same weight. There are a
growing number of people over the age of 50 that compete in competitive athletic events. These
‘masters athletes’ represent an interesting subgroup of older adults because they possess unique
physiological characteristics that could be termed “exceptionally successful aging” (Powers et
al., 2021). This places Mr. Fountain in the master class category and unfortunately, he has seen,
“a decline in athletic performances that he/she achieved at earlier ages” (Powers et al., 2021).
Nash Fountain expressed concern about feeling as if he has less strength and muscle
mass. Strength declines only about 10% between 20 and 50 years of age but decreases at a much
faster rate after that (Powers et al., 2021). The loss of strength is due, in part, to the lower level of
physical activity in older individuals, but the large decrease in strength between 60 and 80 years
of age is due to the actual loss of muscle mass, a condition known as sarcopenia (Powers et al.,
2021). Although changes in the nervous system do occur during aging, much of the loss in
strength with aging is due to a decline in muscle mass (Powers et al., 2021). Age-related
sarcopenia occurs due to both a decrease in fiber size and a decrease in the number of fibers
present in the muscle (Powers et al., 2021). It appears that several factors contribute to
sarcopenia, including inactivity, free radical-mediated damage (oxidative stress) to muscle fibers,
inflammation, and decreases in anabolic hormones such as testosterone (Powers et al., 2021).
The rate of muscle loss with aging is variable across individuals, but both men and women tend
to lose muscle mass at a rate of 1%-2% per year after the age of 50 (Powers et al., 2021).
Therefore, men and women can lose 40%-60% of their total muscle mass from age 50 to age 80
CASE STUDY 3
(Powers et al., 2021). Mr. Fountain may be expressing concern, there are some positives related
to muscle mass and aging. Although, aging results in a loss of muscle mass and strength in all
people, a lifelong program of strength training can maintain a relatively high level of muscle
strength across the life span (Powers et al., 2021). The use of exercise programs for older adults
improves cardiorespiratory fitness and strength and helps maintain the integrity of the bone
(Powers et al., 2021).
Mr. Fountain was given many examples of why muscle mass and strength decrease as he
is aging. With muscle mass and strength, Nash also needs to understand bone health during the
aging process. Bone is a dynamic tissue that can increase in size and strength in response to
increased demands through the action of osteoblasts that cause bone deposition (Powers et al.,
2021). When bone is not challenged (e.g., lack of gravity, inactivity), it is resorbed by the action
of osteoclasts, resulting in a loss of strength, size, and density (Powers et al., 2021). Nash is in
the age bracket for osteoporosis, which is the loss of bone mass but is found more commonly in
women than men over the age of 50 years old. He should continue to do the proper amount of
impact training to help with the prevention of any further bone density loss.
Like the age-related loss of muscular strength, aging also results in a decline in endurance
performance and VO2 max (Powers et al., 2021). VO2 max also declines with age-trained men
and women (Powers et al., 2021). However, the age-related decline in VO2 max in both men and
women is approximately a 1% loss per year after the age of 40 (Powers et al., 2021). Although
endurance training can increase the VO2 max of people of all ages, endurance exercise cannot
prevent the age-related decline in VO2 max (Powers et al., 2021). Nash needs to continue a
proper exercise routine to improve his endurance performance which includes cardiac output,
exercise economy, and lactate threshold. The maximal heart rate can decline by approximately 60
CASE STUDY 4
beats per minute from 20 to 60 (Powers et al., 2021). Exercise economy is measured as the
steady-state oxygen consumption during exercising at a submaximal exercise intensity below the
lactate threshold (Powers et al., 2021). Several studies indicate that the exercise economy does
not change with age; therefore, changes in the economy are not a major factor in explaining the
age-related decline in endurance performance (Powers et al., 2021). The lactate threshold does
not change with age when expressed relative to the VO2 max (Powers et al., 2021). Therefore,
age-related changes in the lactate threshold are not a key factor in determining the decline in
endurance performance with age (Powers et al., 2021). Nash has just found that endurance
performance or cardiorespiratory endurance is affected primarily by the VO2 max. He has also
found the lactate threshold and exercise economy do not negatively impact endurance
performance.
Nash has also felt as if he has lost power and speed, which in turn are a part of anaerobic
power. Power and speed both use the cardiorespiratory endurance or endurance performance part
of the body. To assess maximal anaerobic power, it is essential that the test employed uses the
muscle groups involved in the sport (i.e., specificity) and utilizes the energy pathways used in the
performance of the event (Powers et al., 2021). In general, training to improve anaerobic power
centers around the need to enhance either the ATP-PC system or anaerobic glycolysis (lactate
system) (Powers et al., 2021). Many activities require ATP production from both aerobic and
anaerobic sources (Powers et al., 2021). Anaerobic training is when the individual reaches above
their VO2 max. High-intensity anaerobic training lasting two to ten seconds is often termed
speed or sprint training whereas the term speed endurance training is commonly used to describe
forms of anaerobic training lasting longer than ten seconds. Mr. Nash Fountain did approach me
30 years after being the world Decathlon champion with many concerns involving his speed,
CASE STUDY 5
strength, power, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscle mass. I have given him many different
explanations as to why he is lacking in all these categories. He needs to understand aging brings
many different changes in your body, but if you continue with a training program it can help
slow the process. The type of training program I will suggest to Nash would be resistance
training. Resistance training was presented because it covers all his concerns (i.e., speed,
strength, power, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscle mass). Resistance training increases
muscular strength through changes in both the nervous system and an increase in muscle mass
(Powers et al., 2021). The roles that both the nervous system and muscular growth play in the
development of strength resulting from a resistance training program (Powers et al., 2021). In
training studies of short duration (8 to 20 weeks), neural adaptations related to learning,
coordination, and the ability to recruit the primary muscles (i.e., prime movers) play a major role
in the gain in strength (Powers et al., 2021). During long-term training programs, an increase in
muscle size plays a major role in strength development (Powers et al., 2021). Nash Fountain
cannot stop the years from passing by, but he can reduce the struggles he has brought to the table
through the resistance training program that was brought to the table.
Kanani Jackson
