FORMER ATHLETES PHYSICAL-FITNESS

Genetic and environmental factors determine man's physical fitness. To the environmental factors exerting an active influence on the human organism belong intensive motoric exercises in the form of sport. With the passing of time there occur involutive structural and functional changes in man's organism. In order to determine the degree past sport activities shaped involution processes, a series of anthropometric and efficiency studies of 169 former sportsmen and randomly chosen men aged 39-73 were carried out in 1973; these studies were repeated ten years later (in 1983). It appeared that there existed substantial differences between former sportsmen and control groups (1973). In some physical efficiency tests these differences amounted to 15-20 years to the advantage of sportsmen. Studies repeated in 1983 allowed to assess the dynamics of involution changes appearing in the two groups-chiefly in the sphere of movement. The studies indicated that the motor regress began among the sportsmen not only at a higher level of original physical efficiency but its progress was slower.