Age and sex differences in blood lactate response to sprint running in elite master athletes

The effect of age and sex on anaerobic glycolytic capacity in master athletes is currently unclear. To study this issue, we determined blood lactate concentrations after competitive sprint running in male and female master athletes of different age. Eighty-one men (40-88 yrs) and 75 women (35-87 yrs) participating in the sprint events (100-m, 200-m, 400-m) in the European Veterans Athletics Championships were studied. Blood samples were taken from the fingertip and analysed for peak lactate concentration ([La]bpeak). The [La]bpeak following 100-m to 400-m races showed a curvilinear decline (p < 0.001-0.05) with age in both men and women. However, the age related differences in the [La]b peak were not significant before 70 years of age. No significant sex related differences were found in [La]b peak for any sprint event. The [La]b peak correlated significantly (p < 0.001-0.05) with running times in all sprint distances except for the age-controlled correlation in men for the 100-m and 200-m. In conclusion, the present study showed age but not sex differences in blood lactate response to competitive sprint running in master athletes. Although the [La]b peak level of the athletes was considerably higher than that reported for untrained men and women, these cross-sectional findings suggest that anaerobic energy production from glycolysis declines in later years and may be a factor in the deterioration in sprint performance.