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Elderly people 'seep energy like an old car'

Older people use 30% more energy than young people to walk just 100 yards, scientists have found.

Scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University warn that people aged over 70 may not be getting enough calories to cope with increased ‘fuel loss’, an irreversible result of the tendency to overwork muscles to support unstable joints and tendons. Tendons in the elderly were likened by the scientists to an “old elastic band” - overstretching and not springing back into shape. This also contributed to over-use of muscles.

Professor Marco Narici, coordinator of the European-funded Better Ageing research project, said: “The elderly participants had too many muscles switched on at the same time and were seeping energy like an old car with its engine out of tune. “They were quite inefficient and this is due in the main to muscles overcompensating for weak joints.” He said the result was that the elderly tended to take smaller, more frequent steps, and tend to drag their feet; a walking pattern that makes them more vulnerable to trips and falls.

The scientists, from MMU’s Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement, also examined whether a 12-month programme of exercise could offset the effects of walking efficiency loss. But they found that after the training programme, the older volunteers were just as uneconomical. Professor Narici commented: “Exercise can help build muscle mass and strength but the fitter people still consumed the same amount of energy. This, we believe, is because the main key is the way the muscles are controlled by the nervous system and not the size or bulk of the muscles per se.” The scientists found no difference between the walking efficiency loss between men and women.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .