DistanceRunHandicaps.pptVIP

Distance Run Handicaps Paul Vanderburgh HSS 409: Kinesiology Agenda Background Distance Running and Body Weight Scaling and Other Activities Running and Age Age and Weight Handicap Proposal Summary and Conclusions Background Distance run times (DRT) well known to decrease with age and weight But…how much due to age and weight alone? Age Categories Widely used in road races Often very few competitors in the oldest categories No easy way to compare runners of different age groups WAVA (World Association of Veterans Athletes) Age-Grading Adjusts run time by an age-grading factor Ex: 42 yr old male runs 24:00 5K Factor = 0.9487 Run time x Factor = 22:46 = Adjusted Run Time (ART) ART can be compared to all other runners’ ART’s Handicap based on world bests, not physiology (http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wavalookup.html) Team Clydesdale: BW and Age Distance Running and Body Weight - Theory VO2max ? Body Weight1/3 (Astrand ’86) 5K run time ? VO2max/BW(Nevill ’92) Therefore, 5K run time ? BW1/3 (Vanderburgh 95) Can probably be applied to other run distances DRT and Body Weight – Actual Data Other Aerobic Activities - Cycling Cycling: lighter cyclists have advantage climbing but heavier are faster in flat time trials (quantified by Swain 94) Other Aerobic Activities - Rowing Rowing Ergometer: 2500m time trial times ? BW1/3 or H Row Time x Ht yields an adjusted score that is fair (Vanderburgh 96) Strength and BW Handicaps Strength is well known to be directly proportional to muscle cross sectional area (CSA) Muscle Strength ? CSA ? BW2/3 (Vanderburgh 99, Jaric 2002) Wilks Powerlifting Formula provides an accurate handicap by BW (Vanderburgh 99) Running and Age - Theory Max heart rate is well known to decline with age (220-age) This would likely explain the decline in VO2max with age Quantification of the independent effect of age on VO2max: Males: 0.26 ml/kg.min O2 per yr Females: 0.25 ml/kg.min O2 per yr (Jackson 95, 96) VO2max Decline Run Time