Abstract
Aerobic exercise training has many known cardiovascular benefits that may promote healthy aging. It is not known if long-term aerobic exercise training is also associated with structural benefits (e.g., lower fat mass, higher areal bone mineral density (BMD) and greater muscle mass). We evaluated these parameters in middle-aged long-term endurance runners compared to sex-, age-, height-, and weight-matched non-running controls. Total and regional lean and fat mass and areal BMD were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Sagittal magnetic resonance images captured the cross-sectional area and thickness of the lumbar multifidus. Runners (n = 10; all male) had a mean (standard deviation; SD) age of 49 (4) years, height of 178.9 (4.9) cm, weight of 67.8 (5.8) kg, body mass index (BMI) of 21.4 (1.4) kg/m2 and had been running 82.6 (27.9) km/week for 23 (13) years. Controls (n = 9) had a mean (SD) age of 51 (5) years, height of 176.0 (5.1) cm, weight of 72.8 (7.1) kg, and BMI of 23.7 (2.1) kg/m2. BMI was greater in controls (p = 0.010). When compared to controls on average, runners had a 10 percentage-point greater total body lean mass than controls (p = 0.001) and 14% greater trunk lean mass (p = 0.010), as well as less total body (8.6 kg; p < 0.001), arm (58%; p = 0.002), leg (52%; p < 0.001), trunk (73%; p < 0.001), android (91%; p < 0.001), and gynoid fat mass (64%; p < 0.001). No differences were observed between groups for BMD outcomes or multifidus size. These results underscore the benefits of endurance running to body composition that carry over to middle-age.
Highlights
As the number of older people in the world rapidly increases, determining lifestyle behaviors that may positively impact health are warranted [1]
Body composition is commonly measured with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in part due to accessibility, ease of analyses and lower radiation dose when compared to computed tomography (CT) [8]
DXA can measure total body and regional fat mass with high precision (CV of 0.9%–4.4%) [9] and correlation compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; r = 0.990) and CT (r = 0.979) at the same sites [10]
Summary
As the number of older people in the world rapidly increases, determining lifestyle behaviors that may positively impact health are warranted [1]. Regular aerobic exercise training, such as running, has been touted as having a ‘multi-system anti-aging effect’ [1], capable of improving a range of health-related outcomes associated with chronic diseases [2], such as those underscoring cardiometabolic risk [3]. Potential explanations for these overall benefits of aerobic exercise training may, in part, stem from training-induced increases in lean mass and decreases in fat mass [4,5], as well potential increases in bone mineral density (BMD) [6,7]. DXA can measure total body and regional fat mass with high precision (CV of 0.9%–4.4%) [9] and correlation compared to magnetic resonance imaging
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
