How and why exercise gives different results as we age

All of us have witnessed Olympics, Common Wealth Games and several other sports events in which we hardly observe anyone above the age of 40 taking part. There is a reason why professional Sports do not include people after a certain age or to put it more simplistically, ‘old people’. Even though old and young, both build muscle as a result of exercise but as one ages, the way body responds to exercise changes. .

Studies have attempted to understand the biological processes that influence the way our body reacts to exercise, diet and training and it has been found that older people’s bodies aren’t as efficient and react rather slowly as compared to younger people. Because of this, it is extremely hard for older people to build strength. However, it does not mean that one stops exercising with age, it in fact becomes all the more important to move your body so that it stays fit.

Muscles enlarge after resistance training. Exercises such as weight lifting, push-ups, sit-ups and resistance training using equipment help the muscle increase in size and in strength. This happens because when we lift a weight or move our body, a shortening and pulling of the muscles takes place, simply contraction. Every contraction gives rise to changes in the chemical composition of the muscles. Muscles are also endowed with receptors that detect any movement and the following biochemical alteration that takes place within a muscle. The receptors and the following process of chemical alterations that takes place in muscles is quite efficient in young and healthy individuals in whose bodies the receptors detect movement and in turn produce more protein that are incorporated in the muscle fibers and increase the muscle size. The genes that code for special proteins in cells that that make up the muscle contracting machinery.

In the case of older individuals, the genes that respond to resistance exercises and other strength training exercises are quite inactive. While in young men there were 150 genes whose expression changed, in older people, changes were observed in only 42 genes. This observation has explained quite well the difference in reactions that the same exercise brings about in people of different ages. Even though older people do not gain much muscle mass after exercising, especially strength training, this should not discourage older people from exercising because the benefits are never reduced to zero. Exercising has been shown to reduce the risk of becoming disabled by 20 percent. It also helps them gain other health benefits which include better flexibility, increased strength and higher mobility. Exercising thus has long-term benefits that only increase and do not dampen with time for people eof all age groups.