Age dependence of Olympic weightlifting ability DAVID E, MELTZER Department of Chemistry and Physics, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA 70402 ABSTRACT MELTZER, D. E. Age dependence of Olympic weightlifting ability Med. Sci. Sports Exere., ol. 26, No.8, pp. 1053-1061, 1994. There is ‘increasing interest among Masters athletes in standards for comparing performances of competitors of different ages. The gosl ofthis study 1was to develop one such age-comparison method by examining the age dependence of ability in Olympic-style weightlifting. Previous re: search on the deterioration of muscular strength and power with in creasing age offers only limited guidance toward this goal; therefore, analysis of performance data was requited. The variation of weight lihing ability as a function of age was examined by two different methods. First, cross-sectional data coresponding to two separate populations of Masters weighlifters were analyzed in detail. Then, 4 ongitudinal study of 64 U.S. male Masters weighilifters was carried fut, with performance data extending over an 18-yr period. The ‘weightlifting performance versus age curves resulting {fom the Iwo methods were very similar, reflecting ~1.0-1.5% yr" deterioration rates. These curves were characterized by common features regarding the rate of decline of muscular power with increasing age, in apparent agreement with published data regarding Masters sprinters and jump- ers. We tentatively conclude that Olympic Weightlifting ability in trained subjects undergoes a nonlinear decline with age, ia which the second derivative of the performance versus age curve repeatedly changes sign MASTERS ATHLETE, ANAEROBIC POWER, MUSCLE, AGING TRENGTH, activities for older athletes has led to an increased desire among these competitors for means with ‘which to compare the performances of athletes of widely varying ages [see, e.g., (26)]; this comparison is some- times called “age correction.” For instance, it is often desired to choose the “outstanding performer” or “out- standing performance” at a Masters competition. The basis for such a choice must rest on an understanding of the normal pattern of age-related deterioration of physi- ological capability and its effect on athletic performance. Ideally, one might like to find some formula that could quantitatively predict how strength, speed, endurance, or T: rapid worldwide expansion in Masters sports MEDICINE AD SCIENCE IN SPORTS AND EXERESE, itd © 184 yh Ameri Cle of pr Maia ‘espe opine ery (95, 1053 other physiological parameters will decline, year by year, with advancing age. Such a formula could be used to compare performances by athletes of different ages. Of course, no such ideal formula exists, and finding a sat- isfactory age-correction method is a difficult task. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the issue of age correction from the standpoint of the Masters weight- lifter who competes in Olympic-style events (ic., the snatch and clean and jerk lifts). The basic approach adopted was to determine quantitatively the rate of de~ terioration of weightlifting ability with increasing age. The original motivation for this work was the desire within the international community of Masters weight- lifters for some quantitative scheme to allow perfor- mances by weightlifters of varied ages to be compared with each other. This has been done in the recent past by calculating age-correction coefficients, by which the total ‘weight lifted by an individual weightlifter may be mul- tiplied, so as to equate the performances made by com- petitors of different ages (29). A full set of age-correction coefficients consists of a set of specific numerical factors, each of which corresponds to a particular chronological age; larger factors correspond to older ages. The product of the age-correction coefficient and the total weight lifted yields a point score, and scores for athletes of different ages may then be compared. Sets of age-cor- rection coefficients can be obtained only from specific quantitative data regarding the decline of physiological function with increasing age. This study has taken a further step toward age correc- tion for Olympic-style weightlifting, by analyzing exten- sive new data that have recently become available relat- ing the weightlifting performance of male athletes of various ages. One of the goals of this analysis was to obtain a new set of age-correction coefficients. It is clear that there can be at this time no rigorous scientific basis. for a very precise age comparison method; a variety of assumptions and estimates are required, and their accu- racy is difficult to estimate. Nonetheless, as is demon- strated in the present study, the available data show a high degree of consistency with regard to the age depen-1054 Oficial Journal ofthe American Collage of Sports Medicine dence of Masters weightlifting performance. There has been very active, worldwide competitive activity in Olympic-style Masters weightlifting for nearly two de~ cades (initially concentrated in North America and Eu- rope), and at this point there are sufficient data to allow for some preliminary conclusions to be drawn. Since the primary physiological basis of weightlifting performance is muscular strength and power, a natural first step in this study was to examine the body of avail- able research related to the effect of the aging process on ‘muscular function. It was necessary to explore the extent to which already available data could be used to develop, an age-correction formula. Here we very briefly review this previous work, in order to specify its utility in de- veloping an age-correction method, and to provide a standard against which weightlifting performance data may be compared. Moreover, the important issue of the relative merit of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses is raised. It is a longstanding problem in the field of exercise physiology to determine the effects of aging on physi- ological capability, and the consequent effects on per- formance in various sports activities [(26,37) and refer- ences therein]. There is to date no consensus on any reliable quantitative measures of the overall age-related degradation of muscular function over the full course of an adult life-span. Various quantitative estimates of loss of strength in particular muscle groups have been re- ported; however, strength versus age curves in the litera- ture vary substantially (11,25). There is significant varia- tion in reported results, both for different muscle groups, and among different investigations studying the same muscle groups (4,11,25,35). [The overwhelming majority of strength versus age curves are determined for particu- lar muscle groups. Two prominent and widely cited ex- ceptions are those due to Hettinger (16) and to Asmussen and Heebgll-Nielsen (5)]. Among the most significant problems is the practical difficulty of carrying out long- term longitudinal studies of a single, controlled group of individuals so as to determine the change of their mus- cular function over a period of decades. The great ma- jority of reported studies are therefore cross-sectional, comparing individuals of widely varied age groupings to each other at one moment in time. In such studies it is difficult to control for intergroup variation in physical activity, which is a crucial factor (2). Most of the handful of longitudinal studies (1,6,8,17) have examined subjects at only a very small number of different points in time. In this context, the conclusion of Clement (8) that cross- sectional studies understate the rate of decline of strength with age is particularly interesting. If he is correct, it may be necessary to reevaluate some of the current numerical estimates. However, the recent longitudinal study of Kallman et al. (17) on handgrip strength—which was MEDICINE AND SCIENCE IN SPORTS AND EXERCISE perhaps the most extensive such study to date—found good agreement between a cross-sectional and a longi- tudinal analysis It should be made clear at the outset that performance in Olympic-style weightlifting is most closely related not, to maximal static muscular strength, but to maximum very-short-duration power [energy per time] output of the human body, on time scales of the order of a fraction of a second (12,13,30). [Strength is the magnitude of force exertion, while power is magnitude of force exertion X velocity of object being moved (37).] In general, maxi- mal strength as a function of age is much better studied than is the age dependence of maximal muscular power. The relation to chronological age of maximal power out- put for relatively short duration exercise was investigated by Makrides et al. (19) (30-s test) and Shock and Norris, (27) (10- to 15-8 exertion). “Stair run” tests of power (21) are much shorter duration (of the order of 1 s). Mechani- cal power output as a function of age was investigated using this type of test by Margaria et al. (21), Davies (9), Suominen et al. (32), and others [(24) and references therein]. For very-short-duration exertion, studies on ver- tical jump performance of subjects of varied ages are particularly relevant (7,9,10,14,15,36). At least three curves representing maximal very-short-duration muscu- lar power output as a function of age have appeared in the published literature. The vertical jump results of Davies (9) are fit with a curvilinear interpolation; however, the interpolation stops short of age 50. Bosco and Komi (7) present a linear interpolation of their data, which is how- ever limited to very few subjects over the age of 50. The more recent investigation of Grassi et al. (14) tested vertical jump performance of Masters track and field athletes who compete in power-related events (sprinting and jumping). This latter study of Grassi et al. (also presenting a linear interpolation) appears to relate to our investigation more closely than any other reported to date. From the standpoint of the Masters weightlifter seek- ing an age-comparison standard, the work described above is inadequate in a number of respects. Most of the available data are from cross-sectional studies that focus on force production of small muscle groups in isolation. Subjects are mostly nonathletic or sedentary individuals, relatively few of whom are over age 50. Few data are available regarding deterioration of short-duration mus- ‘cular power, and the influence of body weight on strength and power is not always taken carefully into consider- ation. Finally, significant discrepancies exist in the quan- titative results of different studies. This type of research offers only very limited guidance toward the goal of comparing performances in Olympic-style weightlifting for trained competitors of widely varied ages. Because of the difficulties with the data resulting from carefully controlled studies, it is now clear that Masters weight-AGE DEPENDENCE OF OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING ABILITY lifters must turn to the historical record of their own sport in order to fill the need for an age-comparison formule It is reasonable to speculate on what may be the po- tential broader implications of the results of such an analysis. The historical record of sports performances by Masters athletes in strength- and power-related activities offers the prospect of yielding useful insights into the age-related changes in overall muscular function. Instead of focusing on a single muscle group, sports events gen- erally involve a number of different muscles and muscle groups working together. Moreover, the subjects are rela- tively homogeneous in the degree of their physical ac- tivity. One of the objectives of this study was to compare age-related changes in weightlifting ability with the re- sults of previous studies related to the deterioration of muscular function with increasing age. The population of competitors in Masters weightlifting events offers some significant advantages as a subject group for study. They are relatively homogeneous in terms of their physical activity, and maintain a low and slowly changing proportion of overall body fat. Further- more, the major power-producing muscle groups of the body are central to weightlifting performance, and the relation of body weight to weightlifting performance has been carefully studied (28,31). [The body-weight-correc- tion formula developed by Sinclair (28.29) has been for several years the most widely used method in North America for comparing weightlifting performances in different body-weight classes; its use is widespread in other countries as well.] In addition, both longitudinal and cross-sectional data are available for a substantial number of subjects. On the other hand, it is quite prob- able that available performance data is distorted by vary- ing and uncertain degrees of usage of anabotic drugs. Although usage of such drugs is generally acknowledged to have been widespread, data regarding such use among, the various age groups of Masters weightlifters is at this time completely lacking, and a precise evaluation of its effect on performance data is unfortunately not presently possible, here can be no single, clearly defined method for deriving an age-correction formula for weightlifting abil- ity. The basic reason for this is that one can approach the problem either from the standpoint of a single “average” weightlifter and the way in which his or her ability de- clines with age, or from the standpoint of the total “popu- lation” of Masters weightlfters, and how the different age groups compare in their abilities at one given time. (This corresponds, roughly speaking, to the difference between longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses, re- spectively.) There can be no guarantee that the results of the two methods will be the same, since other factors may be working to change the population mix as time goes on. That is, if exactly the same group of individuals were studied for several decades, then we would expect the two methods to give similar results. However, the Offical Journal of the American Colege of Sports Medicine 1055 makeup of the group of active Masters weightlifters con- stantly changes, and other factors may affect the results, besides the way in which the ability of the average weightlifter changes with age. For instance, as one spe- cific age grouping of weightlifters ages, itis possible that, an increasingly large proportion of the weightlfters in that given group will consist of individuals who train at less than the maximum intensity of which their body might actually be capable. This might lead to an apparent, decline that is more rapid than that of the ideal average weightlifter; this ideal weightlifter always trains as hard as possible, even over a period of several decades. On the other hand, it is possible that only the competitors greatest natural gifts continue to participate as aging progresses. In this case, the decline that would be ob- served might be less than that of the average person. [Or perhaps greater, if rate of decline is proportional to start- ing value, as suggested by the findings of Kallman et al (17), ete.] The point is this: until an investigation was done, this had to be an open question. ‘This study utilized both cross-sectional and longitudi- nal methods to study the changing ability of weightlifters as they age. The goal was to obtain a quantitative and qualitative description of the age-related deterioration of weightlifting performance, yielding in the process a new set of age-correction coefficients. (Although deteriora tion rates and patterns for the snatch and clean and jerk lifts may well differ from each other, the absence of longitudinal data for the two separate lifts prevented us from exploring this issue, and we were restricted to ana- lyzing two-lift-total data.) A further objective was to examine any possible differences between cross-sec- tional and longitudinal analyses of this deterioration. In addition, the Sinclair age-correction coefficients—which represent the current “state of the art”—were analyzed by comparison with the present work. Finally, weightlifting performance data were compared with previous research on age-related decline of muscular function METHODS As a first step in the determination of the age variation in weightlifting ability, we have carried out an analysis of currently available data using two different methods. Neither method could be called ideal, in view of the small, sample of data which is presently available, In each case the data sets utilized are, as far as we are aware, the largest existing sets of data for Olympic-style weightlift- ing for individuals over 40 yr of age. Before describing the two methods, several preliminary issues must be ad- dressed. Performance distribution and body-weight cor- ection. Competition in Masters weightlifting is cur- rently organized into ten 5-yr age groups starting at age 35, which in tum are broken down into the ten body- weight classes used in Olympic competition. To deter-