The Aging of Athletes

[VictorS.]

As I grow older and into my later 20s, for the first time I am realizing that our athletic primes are finite. It's interesting to see in the different sports how athletes in their respective sports adapt their games as they get older. We saw Michael Jordan become ground-bound. We saw Sampras shift to a more attacking net game. And then you see inspirations like little Allen Iverson still speedy at age 31 and boxers such as Bernard Hopkins at age 42.

As an athlete who would like to extend his own physical prime, what things can I do from a training, nutritional, workout perspective???

Obviously, as we get older we all lose flexibility, strength, and speed. Weight training and of course stretching are really important as is rest and recovery. What is the age old secret of staying young on the court???

 

[joeyscl]

If you took stretching seriously and had done it EVERYDAY, ur flexibily wouldnt decrease as much as you think... my grandpa has been stretching since everyday since he was in his teens, heck, at mid 80s(im sorry! i dont know his age :'() he is more flexible then i am :S (And im more flexible than 95% of my classmates)

 

[Sagittar]

this topic dissapoints me a lot

 

[dcottrill]

Here is how one guy does it:

http://www.mhbestlife.com/cda/article/0,5507,s1-2---1926,00.html

 

[Sagittar]

Here is how one guy does it:

http://www.mhbestlife.com/cda/article/0,5507,s1-2---1926,00.html

this guy is good , not that dissapointed anymore ..

 

[VictorS.]

Here is how one guy does it:

http://www.mhbestlife.com/cda/article/0,5507,s1-2---1926,00.html

I found this quote interesting: "People ask if Julio has the physique of a 20-year-old," says Jason Cleveland, Franco's chiropractor. "I say, 'No, he doesn't.' Because a 20-year-old is too young to develop this good of a physique. Julio has the body of a really strong, really in shape, really special 27-year-old man. It's unheard of."

I've always thought the tennis prime of many players is premature. All the great athletes in other sports peak at a later age than tennis players.

 

[chess9]

"What's the only way a person can get fat?" he asks. "By eating junk. If you put the right things in your body, your body will respond."

It takes a paradigm shift in thinking for most people to fully comprehend that they are what they eat. Eat right, train smart, train hard. Rinse, repeat.

-Robert

 

[tricky]

It's mostly an issue of diet as you get older. Fruits and vegetables have to go up.

Also, the overall diet needs to be more "anti-inflammatory"; so that means that fish oil (and O3) should go up, and GLA (from evening primrose oil) should go up too.

In terms of exercise, I feel the best two things are some kind of cardio and then frequent, full-body oriented lactate threshhold training. The former's benefits are obvious. The latter improves conditioning, protects against injuries, helps your body run "cooler" and lets your body use fat and bodyfat much more easily.

 

[dave333]

My friend's that who is 64 still does triathalons. doesn't look 64 at all. more like 45-50

 

[LuckyR]

As I grow older and into my later 20s, for the first time I am realizing that our athletic primes are finite.


What is the age old secret of staying young on the court???

First, "later 20s" isn't "older", you'll just have to trust me on that one...

The answer to the question is: Motrin.

 

[TonyB]

If you're making millions of dollars and can afford to eat 6 meals a day, hand-prepared by yourself, then run off to the gym 2 or 3 times per day to work out and do cardio, PLUS have great genetics to start with, then yeah, you can probably look like that when you're 47.

Oh, and don't forget about the personal trainer:

"At completion (after doing cardio in the gym), Franco does some errands, then returns to the gym to meet Michael Ashley, his personal trainer, for 1 1/2 hours of hell."


But for the 99.99% of us working schmoes who barely have time to grab a quick sandwich at noon before running off to another meeting or handling production problems in the plant, then going home to take care of 2 or 3 kids while trying to get a handle on balancing your checkbook and figuring out why you can't afford that extra $20 for groceries this month, it's nearly impossible to be in that condition.

Sure, there's no excuse for not finding 20 minutes per day to exercise. But that's a far cry from being in tip-top physical condition, with the biggest concerns in your life being whether or not you're going to have brown rice or white with your beans.

 

[goober]

I agree with TonyB. It is completely unrealistic to look at Julio Franco for inspiration. His whole day is pretty much dedicated to fitness and nutrition. Sure if I won the lottery I could quit my job and spend 2-3 hours on fitness, 2-3 hours on tennis everyday, have a personal trainer and nutritionist as well as a private tennis coach.

My inspiration is a guy at the club who is 42 years old and gets up at 5:00 am to workout before his workday 3-4 times a week and plays tennis 6 times a week and became 4.5 player in 3 years from being a beginner (he has a computer rating so no comments from the peanut gallery).

 

[sloe_torture]

I've been a devout tennis player since I was 12 years old. I'm now 30. About six years ago a co-worker and I began morning hitting sessions 2-3 times a week from 6:30AM to 8AM. We would play competitive games until the end of the session. Until recently there was always a switch that I felt that my body (especially my arm) was warmed up. By 7:15AM I was confident enough to pop first serves without throwing my shoulder out or sprint out to a wide shot before the second bounce. Maybe I've hit the aging curve?

I'm not any less athletic than five years ago. I just have to realize that my body has been grinding out on hard courts, stiff racquets, and other sports over the past 18 years. In fact I'm an improved, more well-rounded, tennis player that needs more time to stretch and warm-up. We non-professionals don't have trainers to assist us with our stretching routines and thus we do need more time to get our bodies primed -- especially in the cold mornings.

For you younger guys (and gals), don't get discouraged. All that stretching is worthwhile if it's fun.

 

[dcottrill]

It is completely unrealistic to look at Julio Franco for inspiration. His whole day is pretty much dedicated to fitness and nutrition.

Of course, us average guys don't have the time or the resources that Julio Franco has been blessed with. Still, I find it inspirational to see the success he is having in his quest to stay active in the majors and to live a healthy lifestyle. And let's be honest...if we made fitness a priority, most of us could be doing a lot more than we do - careers and family obligations notwithstanding.