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Just to clarify (again), I am not saying 'I' am past it, I am saying that it is evident that people do start to decline, as evidenced by most sportsmen being past their peak by this age.
46 here - probably endurance wise about the same as I was at 30. But try anything fast eg 5 a side football / Dad's race and I'm in pinged hamstring city. Partly due to the type of training I do though - generally steady effort stuff though. Since I was 40 I have dabbled in the dark world that is triathlon which keeps motivation up
deffo losing flexibility (not that i had a load) eg vaulting a fence or something would be a challenge. And if I tried a game of rugby (played to about 33) I'd probably die. But I don't work on flexibility which I probably should
have always maintained some level of fitness as I'm a big lad so can chuck on the weight if not careful - think this puts me at an advantage as from my teens I have been a bit careful say compared to someone who has been dead skinny up to late twenties and done no sport who then finds everything going south
echo comments about mental strength etc - as an old git I don't expect it to be easy and will keep churning on
I seem to remember that men are at their physical peak at 23-25, women a bit older. The reason that there are not many older professionals is probably:
They cannot train as hard and recover as quickly as their younger counterparts.
They found it hard to keep up the level of motivation required to train and perform at such a high level.
They got injured and had to stop.
Anyone who is fitter and stronger in their 30-40's than in their 20's was obviouly not trying hard enough when they were younger.
[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Couture
He's 47 now, and stupid fit[/i]
I think if you're called 'Randy Couture' you either go down the 'fit as a butchers dog' or the 'wearing comfortable shoes' route. It's the law.
there are always a few freaks though, 40+ is pretty rare for a sprinter:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/queally-returns-to-uk-2012-london-olympics-sprint-squad
perhaps he's related to reg harris
But there's a clear difference between top class folk and most of us. They were close to their theoretical peak at some point and declining from there. You, me and most of the people we know have never been anyway near our potential. We can probably improve on where we've ever got to before with a bit of work and doing the right stuff.
I'm the oldest I've ever been and the fittest I've ever been and have no plans to stop improving just yet.
I read in a running magazine recently that people get 'best' at a sport after 12 years doing it.
Anyone who takes up a sport later in life will tend to improve for quite some time, then peak, then decline with time. Obviously you can extend the 'peak' by trainign and staying injury free.
It's vaguely comforting that as I didn't take up mtbing until about 10 years ago I've still got a couple fo years to get better at it 🙂
Played high level rugby to around 32. I gave up then as I was losing my motivation to train hard enough to stay at the top level. Think it was having done it for >15 years. I simple was not enjoying it as much. Time was also a factor as other life commitments started to take higher priority.
Took up biking a couple of year after I quit rugby. Last year (40) I beat all of my times on the few things I measure myself on. Fully expect and plan to improve again this year
Never mind all this physical stuff.
If you are 37, relax in the fact that you have been getting stupider for a number of years and will continue to deteriorate. 🙂
Im 50 next year and can still knock out a 1.30 half marathon, ride sportives (road) and come in the top quarter but sadly still getting hammered by my mates off road, technical ability has not improved but fear factor has risen! Train sensibly, use a heart rate monitor and just enjoy being outdoors. Act your shoe size not your age (in all areas of life!!!) and you'll be fine.
I was chatting to an ex Olympic swimmer a while back about getting older and losing fitness, he said that as you get older your muscles become more dense, this makes them stronger pound for pound but they cant support as much oxygen, so you lose some of your stamina.
Yes.
In my thai boxing it's amusing when a younger lad who's a better boxer that me will attempt to over power me...in the clinch I'll beat them everytime. I think you only begin to appreciate 'man strength' when you're older...as a young man you aren't aware of it.
Not literally, but I don't feel too much different to what I did ten years ago
Because you can't actually remember it. i'm 26 and my best years are a close enough memory for me to realise they are gone.
when people over 30 start telling you they aren't over the hill it's because they have started the descent.
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EDIT: Is that a flat barred CX bike?
Kelly Slater, 38 and still world surfing champion(10 times I think).
Me, 41, as fit as I've ever been but not quite as flexible and injuries seem to take longer to heal. Still go downhil with a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" mentality.