The pooled analysis revealed that regardless of intensity, volume, type of exercise, and studied population, the antioxidant indicators tended to increase and pro-oxidant indicators tended to decrease after training. Therefore, we conclude that exercise training seems to induce an antioxidant effect. Thus, it is suggested that people practice some kind of exercise to balance the redox state, regardless of their health status, to improve health-related outcomes.

Emergent evidence suggests that the long-term healthy lifestyle of master athletes may attenuate aging. We compared telomere length (TL) of high-level master sprinters and non-athlete age-matched controls, and analyzed the relationships of TL with performance and body fat. Elite master sprinters (n=11; aged 50.1±9.2yrs) and healthy untrained controls (n=10; aged 45.4±10.9yrs) had blood samples collected for biochemical and biomolecular analyses. Master sprinters had longer TL, lower body fat and BMI, and a better lipid profile than age-matched controls (p<0.05). A large effect size was verified comparing TL between athletes vs. controls (Cohen's d=1.039), with a significant negative correlation between TL and performance decline per decade (r=-0.624, p<0.01) and a positive correlation of TL and actual performance level (r=0.641, p<0.01). In conclusion, TL of elite master sprinters was longer than their untrained peers, and seems to be not only a marker of health status, but also an indicator of sports longevity since both actual performance level and its decrease over years were related to TL. Further research might assess the TL of elite master endurance athletes for comparison with sprinters, and also investigate the underlying mechanisms by which the attenuation of telomere shortening occurs in master athletes.

No abstract

In recent years, the interest of female dominance in long-distance swimming has grown where several newspaper articles have been published speculating about female performance and dominance—especially in open-water ultra-distance swimming. The aim of this narrative review is to review the scientific literature regarding the difference between the sexes for all swimming strokes (i.e., butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley), different distances (i.e., from sprint to ultra-distances), extreme conditions (i.e., cold water), different ages and swimming integrated in multi-sports disciplines, such as triathlon, in various age groups and over calendar years. The influence of various physiological, psychological, anthropometrical and biomechanical aspects to potentially explain the female dominance was also discussed. The data bases Scopus and PUBMED were searched by April 2020 for the terms ’sex–difference–swimming’. Long-distance open-water swimmers and pool swimmers of different ages and performance levels were mainly investigated. In open-water long-distance swimming events of the ’Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming’ with the ’Catalina Channel Swim’, the ’English Channel Swim’ and the ’Manhattan Island Marathon Swim’, women were about 0.06 km/h faster than men. In master swimmers (i.e., age groups 25–29 to 90–94 years) competing in the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) World Championships in pool swimming in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, individual medley and in 3000-m open-water swimming, women master swimmers appeared able to achieve similar performances as men in the oldest age groups (i.e., older than 75–80 years). In boys and girls aged 5–18 years—and listed in the all-time top 100 U.S. freestyle swimming performances from 50 m to 1500 m—the five fastest girls were faster than the five fastest boys until the age of ~10 years. After the age of 10 years, and until the age of 17 years, however, boys were increasingly faster than girls. Therefore, women tended to decrease the existing sex differences in specific age groups (i.e., younger than 10 years and older than 75–80 years) and swimming strokes in pool-swimming or even to overperform men in long-distance open-water swimming (distance of ~30 km), especially under extreme weather conditions (water colder than ~20 °C). Two main variables may explain why women can swim faster than men in open-water swimming events: (i) the long distance of around 30 km, (ii) and water colder than ~20 °C. Future studies may investigate more detailed (e.g., anthropometry) the very young (<10 years) and very old (>75–80 years) age groups in swimming

Participation and performance trends in ultramarathon running have been investigated for large datasets and long period of times with an increase in participants and an improvement in performance. However, the analysis of ultramarathons across many decades is missing. We analyzed these trends for 96,036 athletes (88,286 men and 7750 women) from 67 countries competing between 1956 and 2019 in ‘100 km Lauf Biel’ in Switzerland, the oldest 100-km ultramarathon in the world. More men than women participated in all years. The number of male participants reached a peak at around 1985 and a decline in participation occurred thereafter. Women started competing in 1962. Men were always faster than women and both women and men reduced their race times over years. After about 1985, both overall women and men and both female and male winners were not able to improve race times. For men, athletes from all age groups below the age of 49 years old reached a peak of participation in the 1980s, and showed a decrease since then. Regarding age groups, the decrease first started in age group 20–29 years, followed by 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–69 years. For athletes in age groups 70–79 and 80–89 years, no decrease occurred. For women, age group athletes in age groups 40–49, 50–59, and 60–69 years increased their participation, whereas age groups 20–29 and 30–39 peaked in the late 1980s and started to decrease or stabilize, respectively. Switzerland, Germany, and France were the countries with the highest numbers of participants throughout the history of the race. In men, race times increased after about 1990 for most nationalities; only runners from Germany seemed to stabilize their performance. In women, runners from Italy, France, and Austria improved their performance over the years. In summary, the analysis of the oldest 100-km ultramarathon in the world showed a decrease in participation and an impairment in performance in the last 60 years. These changes were due to a decrease in the number of male ultramarathoners in around the 1980s, where mainly the number of age group runners younger than 70 years decreased.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of investigations analyzing the effects of sex, performance level, and age on pacing in various running disciplines. However, little is known about the impact of those factors on pacing strategies in ultramarathon trail running. This study investigated the effects of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in the UTMB® (Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc) and aimed to verify previous findings obtained in the research on other running disciplines and other ultramarathon races. Data from the UTMB® from 2008 to 2019 for 13,829 race results (12,681 men and 1148 women) were analyzed. A general linear model (two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)) was applied to identify a sex, age group, and interaction effect in pace average and pace variation. A univariate model (one-way ANOVA) was used to identify a sex effect for age, pace average, and pace variation for the fastest men and women. In our study, pace average and a steadier pace were positively correlated. Even pacing throughout the UTMB® correlated with faster finishing times. The average pace depended significantly on sex and age group. When considering the top five athletes in each age group, sex and age group also had significant effects on pace variation. The fastest women were older than the fastest men, and the fastest men were faster than the fastest women. Women had a higher pace variation than men. In male competitors, younger age may be advantageous for a successful finish of the UTMB®. Faster male runners seemed to be younger in ultramarathon trail running with large changes in altitude when compared to other distances and terrains.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biological marker of aging that is associated with agerelated diseases, is longer in master endurance runners (ER) than age-matched controls, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly investigated. The LTL, nitric oxide (NO), and redox balance of ER master runners were analyzed and compared to untrained middle-aged and young adults. We hypothesized that NO and redox balance at baseline would be related to longer LTL in ER athletes. Participants (n = 38) were long-term ER runners (n = 10; 51.6 ± 5.2 yrs.; 28.4 ± 9.4 yrs. of experience) and untrained age-matched (n = 17; 46.6 ± 7.1 yrs) and young controls (n = 11; 21.8 ± 4.0 yrs). Volunteers were assessed for anamnesis, anthropometrics, and blood sampling. Measurements of pro-and anti-oxidant status and DNA extraction were performed using commercial kits. Relative LTL was determined with qPCR analyses (T/S). While the middle-aged controls had shorter LTL than the young group, no difference was observed between ER athletes and young participants. A large effect size between the LTL of ER athletes and middle-aged controls (d = 0.85) was also observed. The ER athletes and untrained young group had better redox balance according to antioxidant/pro-oxidant ratios compared to middle-aged untrained participants, which also had lower values for redox parameters (TEAC/TBARS, SOD/TBARS, and CAT/TBARS; all p < 0.05). Furthermore, the NO level of ER athletes (175.2 ± 31.9 M) was higher (p < 0.05) than middle-aged controls (67.2 ± 23.3 M) and young participants (129.2 ± 17.3 M), with a significant correlation with LTL (r = 0.766; p = 0.02). In conclusion, ER runners have longer LTL than age-matched controls, which in turn may be related to better NO bioavailability and redox balance status.

Cold water swimming (winter or ice swimming) has a long tradition in northern countries. Until a few years ago, ice swimming was practiced by very few extreme athletes. For some years now, ice swimming has been held as competitions in ice-cold water (colder than 5 °C). The aim of this overview is to present the current status of benefits and risks for swimming in cold water. When cold water swimming is practiced by experienced people with good health in a regular, graded and adjusted mode, it appears to bring health benefits. However, there is a risk of death in unfamiliar people, either due to the initial neurogenic cold shock response or due to a progressive decrease in swimming efficiency or hypothermia.