06 avril 2023
A look back at the performance of Charly Bancarel, 93, oldest of the 52,000 participants in the last Paris marathon and finisher of the race in 7 hours and 22 minutes. Is this performance so exceptional? Getting into sport at an advanced age, or practicing an activity intensely, is it really reasonable? Answers from Dr David Hupin, sports doctor at Saint-Etienne University Hospital.
Do you frequently see very elderly patients in your department?
David Hupin: We are a reference center approved by the ministry to monitor high-level athletes. For us, it is therefore not uncommon to receive athletes who break records at an extreme age. The general practitioners who follow them send them to us so that we can determine whether or not it is physiologically risky for this person over 95 to run a marathon, for example. I also remember a very old athlete who participated in the world championships in Lyon a few years ago, who ran the 1500 meters. We also receive a lot of cyclists: we have therefore set up a dedicated consultation, in cardio-respiratory prevention.
What are the main consequences of aging on physical abilities?
DH: On the cardio-respiratory level, we know that the heart of an elderly subject is slowed down, that it is no longer capable of rising to high heart rates and can therefore quickly become out of breath. The lungs are also less efficient, with more complicated ventilation: inspiration and expiration are less complete, there is more inflammation, the bronchi are a little less efficient. The quantity and quality of muscle fibers decreases: this is called sarcopenia. Heart, lungs and muscles, these are the three physiological parameters that make exercise more complicated with age. It’s physiological, that’s how it is.
So how do you explain that some overcome these difficulties?
DH:The “research” dimension constitutes an important part of our activities, and in particular the link between aging and physical activity, so these subjects are of particular interest to us. We know that staying active reduces this physiological decline: we maintain a fairly high level in terms of cardiac, respiratory and muscular activity compared to a more sedentary population of the same age. Before giving the “green light” to an elderly and athletic patient, he performs a cardio-respiratory test with us on a bicycle, treadmill or rowing machine, his performance is compared with what is expected in someone of his age, equivalent build and level of physical activity. The protocol is individualized in the most precise way possible so that the patients do not tire before having reached their maximum capacities during these tests, which last approximately 10 minutes.
Charly Bancarel started running in his fifties. Is it common and recommended to start exercising so late?
DH: It’s not so rare because Robert Marchand (the “oldest French cyclist”, who died at 109 in 2021, editor’s note), if he was always athletic, intensified his cycling beyond 50 years. There is also the case of Fauja Singh, this British runner of Indian origin who broke all marathon records beyond the age of 90. He was not particularly athletic and started running following the death of his wife, when he was 88… This confirms that there is no age to start being active, athletic. We often hear that from the age of 70, it’s too late, that we take risks… But the balance between benefits and risks is largely in favor of benefits. If you don’t have any health problems, you’re not a smoker, you don’t have any cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure or diabetes, or treatment, you don’t take a lot of risk in gradually resuming a sports activity, even if you have been sedentary for a long time.
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Source : Interview with Dr David Hupin, sports doctor at Saint-Etienne University Hospital
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Written by : Charlotte David – Edited by: Vincent Roche
