I recently came across the story of Richard Morgan, from Ireland. Richard is 93 and is a master indoor rower and four time world champion, winning in 2007, 2017, 2021 and 2022. Prior to the age of 73, Richard did not undertake any structured training or exercise. He was recently the subject of a research study by a team from the Universities of Shannon, Masstricht and Limerick. What’s remarkable about Richard is that researchers found that measures of his heart health, muscle mass, and overall fitness were more comparable to that of a healthy 30 or 40-year-old than that of another nonagenarian.
The story reminded me of Jo Schoonbroodt or 'Jogger Jo' who we interviewed after he broke the age group marathon world record at 71. There are valuable lessons for us mid lifers to learn from these old men.
What is Richard doing to achieve these physiological markers?
Here is Richard’s typical training week. Training included approx 30 km per week on the rowing ergometer. Approx. 70% of distances were covered at light intensities (RPE, 10–12) and 20% at hard (RPE, 13–17), and 10% at near maximal or maximal (RPE, 17–20). He performed resistance training for 2 sessions per week, which involved three sets of dumbbell lunges, rows, and curls, respectively, taken close (or to) failure.
Richard has a peak heart rate of 153 beats/min. The researchers found he demonstrated remarkably fast oxygen uptake kinetics, akin to values for a healthy young adult, indicating well-developed and/or maintained cardiopulmonary function. This finding serves as a proxy indicator of a well-developed aerobic function and may, in part, be associated with possible training adaptations (e.g., enhanced stroke volume, mitochondrial function/density, hemoglobin levels, or angiogenesis). Moreover, the capacity to rapidly increase oxygen transport and utilisation at the start of exercise is an important determinant of endurance performance
Lessons for us mid lifers
What the researchers found validates to a large degree one of the pillars of what we have hypothesised in our mid life athlete framework, namely the need to follow a largely polarised aerobic training and to undertake strength training a couple of times per week.
Richard’s data tends to support the premise that aerobic function remains malleable/plastic and may be robustly moderated with appropriate exercise stimuli even without significant development in younger years. Further Richard’s dietary and training practices have plausibly elicited protection against the neuro- and myogenic degenerative mechanisms of sarcopenia.
The stories of Richard and Jo appear to support the supposition that our physiological systems have a degree of plasticity and that when challenged with aerobic and strength training we can both preserve and realise a high level of functionality. Richard didn’t start training until he was 73; imagine what we can achieve by starting 20-30 years earlier?
Perhaps there is also another lesson we should heed from these gentlemen that can’t be measured in a laboratory, and that’s purpose or ‘ikigai’. Exercise has given both a reason and meaning to their lives that has given them both a sense of purpose and joy. If we can tap into that now imagine how good the next 30-40 years could be?
You can access the research study into Richard here
Imagine if we were able to give - and demonstrate - our metabolic (and mental?) ages, in place of the calendar variety. It might be the equivalent of black box telemetry in car insurance. Suddenly 'old' people look young, and some 'young' ones quite old. Richard would be able to get affordable travel insurance to attend competitions, for instance. Isn't it increasingly out of kilter with society's values that calendar-age-based discrimination is still seen as logical and reasonable?