Gender difference of aging performance decay rate in normalized Masters World Records of Athletics: much less than expected

Eur J Transl Myol. 2020 Apr 1;30(1):8869. doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2019.8869. eCollection 2020 Apr 7.

Abstract

Aging behaviours differ in females and males. Females are weaker but survive longer. We report gender decay of skeletal muscle performance by comparing World Records of Master athletes. Master athletes compete in age groups of 5 years until 100 years. The Master World Records are lists of 16 data that, after normalization, show trends of aging decline of muscle performance indicating only minimal gender differences in the process. All trend-lines tend to zero at about 110 years. Since gender hormones poorly influence aging performance decay, other fundamental bioregulators, e.g., those of cell energy metabolism, seems to be relevant.

Keywords: Aging performance decay; Masters World Records; gender differences.

Grants and funding

Funding: The A&C M-C Foundation for Translational Myology, Padova, Italy supported BR and sponsored the publication of this manuscript.