We all assume that as we turn years, the body is losing physical faculties to the point that arriving at an age we can no longer compete in high intensity sports with other younger athletes. But this established idea seems that it is nothing more than a prejudice, following the results of a scientific study on The effects of high intensity sport for health in elderly people.
This study indicates that older athletes who carry out prolonged physical activity, as with the triathlon, are capable of improve their resistance and even compete with other younger athletes, thus calling into question the cliché that with age we become more fragile and prone to injury.
A recent report published in the New York Times It echoed this effect by collecting the testimony of several athletes and Triathlets over 60 years of age who claimed to have a major physical background at that age that when they competed being younger. "It's not about winning races, but about finishing them," said one of them. In some cases with a real record, such as the one made by the Ironman of Kona in the age of 55 to 59 years: 9 hours and 18 minutes. In the female category the time was 10 hours and 33 minutes.
On the other hand, the same study on the effects of sport on age suggests that, between People who practice triathlon continuously throughout their lives, the loss of bone density is lower from the age of 40 than among the rest of the population that does not play sports.
Faster at 60 years
There are more data that speak of the benefits of having practiced background sports - and continuing to do it - when it reaches 60 years. According to a survey between 900,000 marathon, 25% of the runners that exceeded that age achieved better times than half of those between 20 and 54 years. On the other hand, A comparative study of the results of the New York Marathon between 1989 and 2009 He concluded that men over 64 and women over 44 "have probably not yet reached their performance limit," as Ironman collects on their website.
And there are still more! The researchers found that The athletes who continue to practice physical exercise between 63 and 73 years had the same mechanical properties of the patellar tendon as the 20 -year -olds They took as a control group in their study.
In conclusion: exercise is not only a source of health during youth and adulthood, but Practicing background sports throughout life allows you to reach 60 years in a moment enviable for many young people. Could it be that the triathlon rejuvenates?
