3 THE INCREASING ADOPTION OF CONSUMER GRADE WEARABLES: COMPARING THE APPLES AND ORANGES OF SPORT SCIENCE Daniel James and James Lee 5 THE EFFECTS OF RESISTANCE TRAINING ON SPRINT AND ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE IN MASTERS ATHLETES: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Participation of masters athletes (>30 years) in sprint running (100-400 m) and sprint track cycling (200 m, team sprint, 1-km) has increased significantly over recent decades. With aging, sprint and endurance performance gradually declines. The present review focuses upon the effects of resistance training on sprint and endurance performance and its physiological determinants in masters athletes. The available research demonstrates that resistance training interventions in masters athletes lead to beneficial adaptations in both sprint and endurance athletes. With inclusion of heavy strength training exercises in sprinters’ training regimen, increases muscle mass, size of fast fibres and rapid neural activation capacity along with improvements in maximal, explosive and sprint force production have been observed. In endurance athletes, strength training has been shown to lead to increased maximal and explosive muscle strength levels. The actual event-specific performance changes are typically smaller, but significant (p<0.05), with a 2-4% reduction in sprint running times and 3-6% improvement in endurance cycling and running economy. Taken together, these limited data suggest that resistance training programs produce positive effects on physiological determinants of sprint and endurance performance that result in enhanced sport performance capacity in masters athletes. Further research on these issues is needed to design and deliver optimal training programs to aging athletes.