"I should be able to climb this molehill without raising a sweat," you panic, when your legs and lungs refuse to propel you another inch. Suddenly it dawns - you must be getting O-L-D. Does this mean resigning yourself to a diet of progressively gentler sport? Read on...
Reaching The Peak
We all know that we are past our sporting peak not too long after reaching the big Three-O ... or so we are often told. But is that strictly true? Past our potential peak would be a better way of looking at it - the vast majority of us haven't put in anywhere near the necessary amount of groundwork (and we're talking several years of hard training) to realize our body's absolute potential when young enough to do so, and can thus still achieve what are our best ever sporting achievements much much later in life.
Even so, many sporty people - especially those with a competitive streak - dread 'getting old', convinced that they will soon lose all control over a body that has taken years to hone, consequently losing any admiration they enjoy now and suffering regular trouncings at the hands of their smug younger opponents. All they can see to look forward to is a bus-pass, a home-knit cardigan and slippers. Are they right?
Ringing The Changes
Naturally, changes do take place that affect your sporting endeavours. From around thirtysomething, your muscles and bones will slowly and steadily weaken. If you let them, that is. Through weight training and just generally keeping active, you can maintain a very good level of muscle and bone strength even into your seventies.
The other negative changes include reactions getting slower, balance not being such a doddle, your vision losing some of its acuteness, and a proneness to niggling aches and pains. All things that you consciously or unconsciously make allowances for when taking part in sport. Yet bear in mind that all this is, in general, a very gradual process. If you've been sporty for many years it will be even more gradual.
Dedication to your sport is more important as you get older, not less. Losing this dedication is a bigger reason for decline than age itself. If you cut down on your hours playing sport, decreasing fitness, not increasing age, will be the decisive factor. For added motivation, maybe think about getting into the 'masters' or 'veterans' scene in your favourite sport.
Bear in mind, of course, that the older you get the more vital it becomes, before undertaking any more exercise than you currently do (especially if you want to compete), to obtain your doctor's approval and advice.
Don't Act Your Age
Anyway, some think that 'old age' is to a large extent an elaborate excuse, that the drop in performance in certain areas can be caused by expecting the decline and behaving as if it has already happened. Some also think that our memories can easily change to suit what we want to believe. So maybe your legs and lungs never were as strong as you keep telling yourself. Maybe you always had trouble climbing molehills...
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