Energy balance
Aging causes a progressive decline in mitochondrial reserve respiratory capacity (RRC), which sensitizes high-energy tissues (brain, heart, skeletal muscle) to bioenergetic exhaustion and increases the risk of age-related pathologies and cell death.
Your body's ability to handle sudden energy demands (like intense exercise or stress) declines with age because your mitochondria produce less 'spare' energy. This makes you more vulnerable to fatigue and tissue damage. However, in skeletal muscle, this decline is not permanent; regular endurance exercise can restore mitochondrial content and function, effectively rebuilding this safety margin.
Based on examples from the energy requiring tissues such as brain, heart, and skeletal muscle, we propose that the age-related decline of oxidative phosphorylation decreases the reserve respiratory capacity of the affected tissue, sensitizes the cells to surges in ATP demand, and increases the risk of resulting pathologies.
Why this rating
The paper is a review citing multiple human studies, animal models, and clinical observations, though it lacks a single primary clinical trial establishing causality in humans.
Source
Is There a Link between Mitochondrial Reserve Respiratory Capacity and Aging?
Claus Desler et al. · Journal of Aging Research · 2012
DOI 10.1155/2012/192503
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