Vitality capacity association with lifelong aerobic physical activity in older adults

The distinction between healthy and pathological ageing has led to the concept of vitality capacity, which can be understood as the body's physiological reserve and estimated using 12 biomarkers distributed across three domains: immune and stress response, energy and metabolism, and neuromuscular function. This physiological reserve may be preserved by lifelong physical activity. This exploratory cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between vitality capacity and lifelong aerobic physical activity. Vitality capacity of 20 lifelong active and 19 inactive healthy adults aged > 55 years was assessed using 12 biomarkers across the three domains. Domain-specific z-scores were calculated for the whole sample and averaged to derive a global vitality capacity score. Principal component analysis was performed and loadings extracted to estimate domain weights, and multiple correlations were conducted to identify associations among biomarkers, domains and vitality capacity scores. Vitality capacity was higher in lifelong active participants (+ 0.2 z-score units, p.adj = 0.009) and was inversely correlated with age (r = -0.53, p.adj = 0.002). The neuromuscular domain contributed most to inter-individual variability in vitality capacity, whereas the immune and stress response domain was the only domain significantly higher in the active group (+ 0.4 z-score units, p.adj = 0.001). Lifelong aerobic physical activity is associated with higher vitality capacity in older adults, particularly within the immune and stress response domain. These exploratory findings highlight an association between physical activity and the physiological reserve and reinforce the relevance of studying lifelong aerobic physical activity in healthy ageing.