Gender difference of aging performance decay rate in normalized Masters World Records of Athletics: much less than expected

Abstract

Aging behaviours differ in females and males. Females are weaker but survive longer. We report gender decay of skeletal muscle performance by comparing World Records of Master athletes. Master athletes compete in age groups of 5 years till 100 years. The Master World Records are lists of 16 data that, after normalization, show trends of aging decline of muscle performance indicating only minimal gender differences in the process. All trend-lines tend to zero at about 110 years. Since hormons poorly influence aging performance decay, other fundamental bioregulators, e.g., those of cell energy metabolism, seems to be relevant.