Chronic Exercise & Lean Muscle Mass in Masters Athletes

Article: Chronic Exercise Preserves Lean Muscle Mass in Masters Athletes physsportsmed.org/.../rpsm.2011.09.1933_secure.pdf The photos are what is really interesting in this paper: 40-year-old triathlete (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php 70-year-old sedentary man (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php 74-year-old triathlete (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php Thanks for posting the study and pictures. While it is difficult to *precisely* compare, it is interesting that the 74 year old appears to have less adipose (fat) than the 40 year old. This may be a statistical artifact - but clearly striking! The cross section diameter of the femurs for both athletes are much greater than that of the sedentary man - and approximately the same diameter. I could not identify the femoral artery in any of the pictures but assume that the athletes would have better flow. What is not stated in the post is if the athletes are female (my initial bias is that these samples are from males). I have been curious about the effects (benefits) of exercise with regards to menopause (and man-o-pause). Thanks Jayhawk for an interesting post!

Article: Chronic Exercise Preserves Lean Muscle Mass in Masters Athletes physsportsmed.org/.../rpsm.2011.09.1933_secure.pdf The photos are what is really interesting in this paper: 40-year-old triathlete (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php 70-year-old sedentary man (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php 74-year-old triathlete (quadriceps, cross-sectional MRI view) forums.usms.org/attachment.php Thanks for posting the study and pictures. While it is difficult to *precisely* compare, it is interesting that the 74 year old appears to have less adipose (fat) than the 40 year old. This may be a statistical artifact - but clearly striking! The cross section diameter of the femurs for both athletes are much greater than that of the sedentary man - and approximately the same diameter. I could not identify the femoral artery in any of the pictures but assume that the athletes would have better flow. What is not stated in the post is if the athletes are female (my initial bias is that these samples are from males). I have been curious about the effects (benefits) of exercise with regards to menopause (and man-o-pause). Thanks Jayhawk for an interesting post!