I haven't posted for ages. Probably shouldn't today, cause you'll just think I'm a grumpy old man, which is fitting
for this thread.
"Do you want the bad news first? The body starts to slow down as we go past about 35 years of age. Now that’s out of the way, the good news is that these changes are generally small, and will continue with modest declines in performance until you’re about 60. It’s bad news again after that."
Don't pay any attention to these kinds of statements. You want charts and stats, really, you do. How much does 'the body slow down' (he said 'small', but how small?), and what does that mean anyway? If it's a tiny amount, it allows people to make sweeping statements that mean almost nothing. It's like something increasing your risk of cancer. Ask, does it double my risk, or increase the risk by 0.05 times the risk of the person that isn't exposed to whatever that something is? In this case 'exposure' to >35 years of age could slow you down by 1 sec in a 17.4 Km TT... does that matter?... probably not, especially because now you're >35 you can afford wheels that make you 10 sec faster! Then ask, what's the variation among individuals. Does everybody's body slow down past the age of 35 or just 25% of the people studied? If 25% showed a big change, they could be 'responsible' for the overall conclusion, even though 75% of the people didn't slow down at all.
Maybe I am not grumpy, just sensitive - I'd forgotten when I started typing 5 minutes ago (also funny given the topic... age), but it's my birthday today, which means Allen Casel's is tomorrow - wish him well if he shows up for the Friday ride.
JT