All parents know the struggling of tiring their very energy-filled children in order for them to sleep well at night. Unfortunately, a new study brings bad news for them. It seems that there is a clear reason why they have such a hard time achieving this. The study, which the journal Frontiers in Physiology recently published, says that children’s muscles recover a lot quicker than those of adults. Moreover, their recovery rate is even quicker than that of professional athletes.
So, in order to reach this impressive result, the team of experts tested three different groups of kids. One was made up of 12 boys between 8 and 12 who were not in shape, 12 adults who were not in shape, and finally, 13 adults who were national-level competitors. After taking part in some cycling tests, the team analyzed how the groups recovered from the effort. They monitored their heart rate, oxygen levels, lactate levels, and acidosis too. Upon concluding all the tests and examinations, the experts reached an unexpected conclusion. The children outperformed the adults who were not in shape, which was not very shocking. However, they also recovered a lot quicker than the adult well-trained endurance athletes.
Children’s muscles recover quicker than those of professional athletes
But what does the result of this study tell us? The team of experts wanted to conduct this experiment in order to find new ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle for adults. Especially as they get older and begin facing an increasing risk of developing certain diseases. Researchers think that the high number of diseases that appear in old age happen because of physical inactivity.
However, this aerobic fitness decreases as the child becomes older. The idea would be to help children maintain it for longer by doing physical exercise. At the same time, other experts think that many of these diseases are hereditary and have nothing to do with physical activity or the lack thereof.
Image source: defense.gov