PhD V.A. Romanovich
"Yubileiny" sports and fitness complex, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - UGRA, urban-type settlement Oktyabrskoe ber

Objective of the study was to identify the role of sports training and competitions in preventing an age-related decrease in physiological abilities and functions.
Methods and structure of the study. During the study, we analyzed the articles published from 2018 through March 2020 in the following databases: EBSCO, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, Pubmed, SCOPUS, eLIBRARY. The following search terms were used: "sports for seniors", "successful ageing in sports", "sports for masters", "ageing and physical activity", and "sports training and ageing".
Results and conclusions. The author notes that sport is seen as a preventive measure against health deterioration at mature age and social integration of elderly people into society; these two basic arguments are key to increasing and encouraging their participation in sports activities.
Since in Russia the term "sport veterans" is uncertain and has no legal specification, the author uses the term "senior (mature) athletes" as the ideal model for determining successful ageing through their regular participation in high-intensity trainings. There is extensive data on the age-related decrease in the maximum aerobic capacity, effects of regular trainings on neuromuscular functions, and cellular ageing.
It is important to use physical exercises as a means to change the state of the human body (at least at the cellular level) and thus successfully overcome functional degradation and ageing in general. In this context, the author views the existing evidence on the impact of sports training at a mature age on the basic physiological functions and cellular ageing, and proposes directions for future research on the unexplored aspects.

Keywords: sports for seniors, physical activity, physiological functions, body measures, ageing.

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