What sports/exercise do you get better at with age?

BerryH · December 2011

For me it would be pretty much anything, because as a skinny teen I had no interest in doing sport of any sort!

However, certain sports, particularly endurance, do seem to favour older athletes - many elite marathon runners and Tour De France cyclists are in their mid-to-late 30s.

I'm pretty sure a decline in everything after 40 is inevitable, except perhaps some martial arts? Having said that a number of friends started doing Ironman triathlons for the first time in their 40s which is an outstanding achievement!

Personally I feel endurance comes easier, maybe because I have more patience, and strength because I'm prepared to work at it and it. Speed and gymnastics may be beyond me now, though I can still put my legs behind my head after a bit of a warm- up!

What do you think, and what have you noticed you're better at as you get older?

audram420 · December 2011

In high school and college I played soccer and softball, but just recently (i'm 32) I started playing volleyball with some friends and I really ROCK at it!! I"m really surprised that I've caught on so quickly but I love it!!

mea9 · December 2011

bump

rc630 · December 2011

In terms of relative age, male gymnasts often get better with age, while with females it's often the opposite. For example, most female gymnasts in the US will do elite level gymnastics and try for the Olympics when they're 11-18 and then do NCAA, which is comparatively easier, yet men will more often compete in NCAA first, then proceed to Olympic-level competitions.

Golf seems to also be a sport (for those that consider it a true sport) that experience from age is more of a factor than youth, so older athletes might perform better.

I can't say what I've gotten better at because I'm only 19

lotuslion · December 2011

I just turned 30, so I don't think I can add personal experience to this, but I have a cool story to share. I have Trek Women friended on Facebook, and they posted last year about an 80-something-year-old woman who did one of the Trek-sponsored triathlons. She not only came in first in her age class, but beat the times of the winners of the next youngest two classes - so she was beating people 30 years younger than herself!

She's totally my idol.

Cheers,
Jessica.

ninerbuff · December 2011

Unfortunately I'm not getting better.:sad: I've gotten slower, and my strength is slowly diminishing. But I still look good!

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Scarlett_S · December 2011

I"m in martial arts and have been for four years. I am 14 weeks away from black belt testing. I would say that as a younger person I would not have had the patience for all the requirements related to getting the black belt, BUT - I do think its harder for older people. (I am 42.) I see younger people going through it and they seem to sail through the physical requirements, and I have struggled with all of them, training and training just to be "average."

BerryH · December 2011

My former running coach didn't start until she was 40. She was talent spotted delivering newspapers from her family's shop at a jog after the newspaper boy didn't turn up. A couple of years later she was a veteran world championship Marathon gold medallist! She's 62 now and still training runners of all abilities.

It was so much easier before 30 - here's my blog post with me when I got fit the first time round (plus my horrendous before MFP photos):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/BerryH/view/my-before-before-picture-95514

bikermike5094 · December 2011

I play raquetball here on base and have been playing since i was in my 20's, I'm 46 now. My speed and acceleration has slowed down but my cunning and court awareness has only improved with age. Guess its the old adage that age and treachery overcomes youth and speed anyday.

AmyEm3 · December 2011

I used to run 5k almost every day in college (12+ years ago). Now I can run 10-13K. I'm not really any faster or slower but my endurance is much better.

MercenaryNoetic26 · December 2011

Pretty much whatever I set my mind to doing. When you're younger your body just works better, when you're older (assuming you're into fitness) you just know HOW to make it work better and the focus is there.

n_unocero · December 2011

softball and basketball. i played both in high school and college but i didn't put any extra work into either. now that i work out and lift i'm stronger and faster then i ever was. makes me wish i could go back in time and work as hard as i am now. i could have done bigger and better things. :ohwell:

hnsaunde · December 2011

Rugby, I'm a lot stronger than I was at 18, or even 14 when I started playing. I know how to build up my strength and endurance the proper way now, so this season will be the best yet!

SueInAz · December 2011

For me it's running. I hated running all my life, and so never really did it, until this year. I might have been faster when I was younger, but now I have the patience and drive to actually do it.

Funny you brought up karate. My 70 year old father has been an instructor of both Shotokan karate and jiu-jitsu since as far back as I can remember. He may not be the strongest or the fastest he's ever been but he's crafty and wise. He still regularly trounces the younger guys in sparring matches.

shawnscott5 · December 2011

For me it has been swimming. I had a fear of the water growing up due to an almost drowning in a lake trapped under a log. So, I was never comfortable with the water. I am almost 40 years old and just learned to swim about 5 years ago. It took me a while, but now I can swim. Not for long, but I am now relaxed and teaching my children to swim.

KayakAngel · December 2011

I just started running this year at 43. I never had the patience to do it before, so I'm happy to find out that I can do it and see so much progress in my abilities so fast. I started kayaking last year, and all the best paddlers in my group are my age or older. They're also smarter and safer, because they've seen what happens if you're not (the post above, tootsnpops, about getting trapped under a log strikes a chord with me - yikes!). I like this topic!

scorpio516 · December 2011

Truthfully, nothing sports wise gets better with age

Sure, something like golf or martial arts you get better at because you can focus more on it, but what if you could focus on it as a 30-50 year old AND have the body of an 18-25 year old...
There is a lot of talk that endurance racing should be held off till you get older too - that's the idea behind 5K for cross country in HS and 10k in college. (Girls doing 3K and 8K respectively is just sexist though) Most people suggest not doing marathons until you hit 25, just because of the wear.

lizziebeth1028 · December 2011

Yoga!!! I have the patience and discipline for it now that I'm older.

rybo · December 2011

Unfortunately for me age has chipped away at all my physical abilities. Although, because I have been working hard and running regularly I am probably equal to or maybe slightly better at distance running compared to when I was 18-20. But I was a sprinter back then, not a distance runner. So it's not really a fair comparison.

Sp1nGoddess · December 2011

Yoga, ballroom dancing, speed-walking in the mall.... I've gotten better at all sports except gymnastics as I've gotten older, mainly because I hated gym and all 'sports' as a teen.