Senior Athletes

I often address the young athlete here. The high school or younger person. Quite often, I will preach to the parents of those younger athletes.

But what about the old folks—those people that are still athletes yet burn a lot of birthday candles? What about them?

Caroline Haynes comes to mind. I’ve written about her before. Still an internationally competitive tennis player when most of those her age have long ago given it up.  She turned 85 this week. She looks 60 and plays like she’s 40.

Dr. Charlie Raper—still running. I have no idea how many miles he has run in his adult years. He turns 86 in August and is still running 5 days a week.

I knew a group of folks that were playing basketball 2-3 days a week, most in their 50’s. I’ve seen several senior citizens on local tennis courts. And then there’s pickleball.

Go by the courts at John Sevier and you’re likely to find a crowd. And it’s all ages. Someone a bit less mobile and a bit slower can compete at pickleball and have fun.

So, what does it take to play a sport when you leave your 20’s?

Basically, it’s the same things that allow you to be competitive in the first place. Strength. Agility. Flexibility. Endurance.

Before you go out and join an adult volleyball league or tackle a marathon, let me make one thing perfectly clear—you need medical clearance first.

If you don’t have a Primary Care Physician (PCP), then get one. Do not rely on the internet for medical advice. Let me repeat that: Do no rely on the internet for medical advice.

It’s OK to ask your PCP questions. Medical care should make sense to the consumer (you). If your PCP can’t explain the logic behind what they recommend for you, then maybe you should look elsewhere. But then do what they say.

The next step is to train for your sport. Sound familiar? You’ve got to spend the time in strength training. You need to make endurance activities that are not your sport a part of your regular exercise regimen.

Starting in our 30’s, we lose muscle mass at a rate of about ½% a year unless you do something about it. You work at a physical job? Doesn’t matter. You still need sport specific exercises.

You need to work on flexibility. Every. Single. Day. I’m a huge advocate of yoga but in a class, with a real yoga instructor. A video just won’t do it. Yoga will not only provide you with flexibility but will also teach you correct movement patterns and develop balance and agility.

As we age, balance and agility diminish. You’ve got to spend time every day to minimize the impact that your age imposes on you. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Talk to your physical therapist about that.

Just like all athletes, you need to eat well. The nutritional component to sports performance is huge. Ginormous. Garbage in, garbage out.

Sleep is huge. (And yes, I’m doing much better—sleep has never been one of my vices but I’m doing well now.) It is definitely more important to listen to your body as you get older. If your body is telling you to back off, you should listen. But if it’s your head doing the talking, you might ignore that. That could just be laziness speaking.

Train for it and there should be no reason why you can’t continue to participate in your sport of choice for a very long time. Just ask Caroline and Dr. Raper.