28.03.2024

Why your child can run around all day without getting tired

They even recover from exercise faster than endurance athletes who have trained for months to reach their physical peak.

Parents whose children run them ragged often pray for their children to get tired, sit still or, better still, go to sleep. But the bad news for weary mums and dads is that youngsters have the same energy levels as endurance athletes.

A study has found children get no less worn out than long-distance runners and triathlon competitors. Researchers led by the University of Clermont Auvergne in France compared the energy levels of boys aged eight to 12 against grown-ups and 12 endurance athletes during a cycling challenge.

A study by French researchers has found children get no less worn out than long-distance runners and triathlon competitors

They say children are better than adults at using oxygen to fuel exercise, minimising their fatigue.

Sébastien Ratel, the study’s lead author the University of Clermont Auvergne, said: ‘During many physical tasks, children might tire earlier than adults because they have limited cardiovascular capability, tend to adopt less-efficient movement patterns and need to take more steps to move a given distance.

‘Our research shows children have overcome some of these limitations through the development of fatigue-resistant muscles and the ability to recover very quickly from high-intensity exercise.’

Previous research has shown children get less tired than adults when jumping vertically, running for short distances and cycling. But there was no evidence comparing to them to endurance athletes until now.

Researchers recruited 13 national-level male competitors in triathlons, cycling and long-distance running to pit against 12 boys with an average age of 10 and a half.

Together with 12 male adults who did not regularly vigorously exercise, they did two seven-second sprints on an exercise bike followed by cycling as fast as they could for 30 seconds.

WHY CAN CHILDREN RECOVER SO QUICKLY?

The results by the University of Clermont Auvergne in France, published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, show children were less tired out by the cycling than adults, and had the same fatigue levels as the athletes.

Children use more oxygen when exercising, perhaps because they are smaller so that their muscles are closer to the oxygen-rich blood being pumped from their heart.

Their extra energy may come from a greater proportion of ‘slow-twitch’ muscles, which contract more slowly and may have evolved to protect children from hurting themselves by exercising too hard. Measuring the heart rates and lactic acid of the boys and men, the study showed children recovered from exercise faster than endurance athletes. Lactic acid is a by-product of exercise which causes muscle fatigue.

The results show children were less tired out by the cycling than adults, and had the same fatigue levels as the athletes. Children use more oxygen when exercising, perhaps because they are smaller so that their muscles are closer to the oxygen-rich blood being pumped from their heart.

Their extra energy may come from a greater proportion of ‘slow-twitch’ muscles, which contract more slowly and may have evolved to protect children from hurting themselves by exercising too hard.

Dr Ratel, who carried out the research with Edith Cowan University in Australia, said: ‘We found the children used more of their aerobic metabolism and were therefore less tired during the high-intensity physical activities.

‘They also recovered very quickly -even faster than the well-trained adult endurance athletes – as demonstrated by their faster heart-rate recovery and ability to remove blood lactate.

‘This may explain why children seem to have the ability to play and play and play, long after adults have become tired.’

Each group was assessed for the body’s two different ways of producing energy. The first, aerobic, uses oxygen from the blood.

The second, anaerobic, doesn’t use oxygen and may cause muscle fatigue. In all tests, the children outperformed the adults who were not athletes.

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.

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