didn't think their would be much interest in this topic, but appears their is
I have just started using a heart rate monitor and started reading a book on the subject by joe friel
Here is a passage that struck me
"Aging appears to also reduce the elasticity of the arteries, even with continued and challenging workouts. You can get a sense of this loss of elasticity by pulling the skin on the back of your hand and watching how quickly it returns to normal when released. In young people the skin snaps back like a rubber band. In older people it seems to “ooze” back. Your arteries are doing much the same thing. As a result of this “hardening” of the arteries, blood pressure rises gradually by perhaps 0.5 percent per year. For the older athlete, this results in an increased arterial resistance to blood flow, since the arteries don’t stretch and contract as easily with each beat of the heart, meaning that the heart must work harder to overcome the resistance. At low intensity, however, the small decrease in blood flow due to the aging plumbing is compensated for by aging athletes’ increased ability to pull oxygen out of the blood at the working muscle."
. Friel, Joe (2009-06-01). Total Heart Rate Training: Customize and Maximize Your Workout Using a Heart Rate Monitor .
