Research

Mixed

Lifelong endurance training preserves skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and capillarization in men aged 82-92, whereas physical function level does not correlate with these morphological markers.

For men in their 80s, maintaining a history of endurance training is associated with better muscle blood supply and energy production than simply being strong. While you cannot change your past, the data suggests that consistent aerobic activity preserves muscle quality better than inactivity, regardless of current strength levels.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Lifelong endurance training, but not higher physical function, was associated with higher muscle oxidative capacity, even beyond the age of 80.
Elisabeth Skoglund et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2022

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=7 athletes) but unique cohort and rigorous histological analysis.

Source

Skeletal muscle morphology, satellite cells, and oxidative profile in relation to physical function and lifelong endurance training in very old men

Elisabeth Skoglund et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2022

DOI 10.1152/japplphysiol.00343.2022

cross_sectional · n=26Cited 10×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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