The vitality and energy that children overflow seem almost inexhaustible. Everyone has been able to experience at some point in their life the clear evidence that, as we grow up, we lose that kind of “super power .” Now, a study has found the empirical explanation of why during childhood we are able to play, jump and run for hours without getting so tired.
The main results have revealed that children’s muscles not only show great resistance to exhaustion , but also recover from intense exercise more quickly than adult athletes.
According to Sébastien Ratel , professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Clermont Auvergne (France) and a researcher on the project, “children can tire earlier than adults in many physical activities, as they have limited cardiovascular capacity, less efficient movements and they need to take more steps to travel the same distance. However, our study shows that children have overcome some of these limitations thanks to the development of resistant muscles and the ability to recover quickly from high intensity exercise ”.
To reach these conclusions, the research has been based on comparing the energy production and muscle recovery of a group of children and another of adults, after the same exercise session. Specifically, the subjects have been divided into three different groups: the first, made up of children between 8 and 13 years old, another of adults who do not exercise regularly, and a third, made up of professional athletes.
The exercises they have faced have been both aerobic and anaerobic. After these sessions, the result showed that the physical conditions of the little ones exceeded those of the untrained adults. Experts explain that children use their aerobic metabolism to a greater extent , and that therefore, they do not suffocate as much as an adult when exercising. Although the study has only been carried out with males, it is believed that the results would be very similar among females.
From exercise to medicine
The researchers point out that it is not a mere study to know the physical potential of children and its changes, but that it goes much further, because it could provide useful information on how physical activity influences the risk of suffering from certain diseases, such as diabetes, whose incidence in Spain exceeds 5 million affected .
Professor Ratel emphasizes the idea that it is important to understand what happens to our body during its development, and more so if we take into account the large number of people who suffer from a disease related to the practice of a sedentary life.
Anthony Blazevich , professor of Biomechanics at the University of Edith Cowan (Australia), assures that, according to his results, “aerobic fitness, at least at the muscular level, decreases significantly as children become adults, more or less the moment when diseases such as diabetes increase ”.
With this, both experts point out that optimizing children’s workouts can directly influence their adult health. In addition, they suggest that both adolescents and adults should improve their muscular aerobic capacity.
Reference : Birat, Anthony; Bournider, Pierre; Piponnier, Enzo; Blazevich, Anthony J .; Maciejewski, Hugo; Duché, Pascale; Ratel, Sébastien. “Metabolic and Fatigue Profiles Are Comparable Between Prepubertal Children and Well-Trained Adult Endurance Athletes. Frontiers in Physiology, (2018). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00387
