Just watched some basketball and parkour videos and I was wondering how their bodies can handle it
In: Biology
They eat well. They train. Then they age just like the rest of us.
WE all float down here.
Well, they don’t. All that stuff catches up with them in the end and they are more likely to develop joint problems later in life.
TLDR: they can’t.
Your body exists kind of in a bell curve. Too little exercise = your joints degrade. Too much = your joints wear out. The athletes you watched are in the top end of that bell curve. They have a limited window before they have to stop, because their bodies can’t do that forever.
Training. And with that technique and muscle build up. Technique will cause a softer impact and the muscles act a spring or cushion. Dispersing the remaining energy from the impact. But still. Professional athletes suffer from a deteriorating body at the end of their career.
They absolutely do take damage over time. Even people who just played certain sports in high school/college often have lasting effects, ranging from mild to debilitating. Many pro athletes’ careers end due to injuries or gradual damage – and that’s *with* access to the best trainers and physical therapists.
I’m a month out of turning 55. I played football from 3rd-12th grade. I was a street skateboarder through my mid-30s, switched to street BMX into my 40s and finally switched over to only surfing from 42 to now. I’m still standing, but my knees have little-to-no cartilage left, my hips are all whack, and have recurring issues with bulging discs.
The top comment is correct, even for those of us who are not top athletes. Bodies operate the same. Too little? You deteriorate. Too much? You rapidly deteriorate. The latter is much more fun…trust me.
Additional question: as im aging im sore anyways. Should i just start running because i will be in pain either way and exercise overall is better for heart etc?
I still find it hard to define when it’s “too much”, how do people know that?!
Many have the best training, nutrition, sports medicine docs, PEDs, and they’re still destroyed when they retire.
Surprised nobody has mentioned this yet, steroids.
Most people think of gigantic muscular guys like Barry Bonds when they think of steroids, but tons of athletes use it not necessarily to get huge and gain muscle, but rather to speed up their body’s recovery.
An orthopedic surgeon doctor recently told me that people who are able to remain athletic in late-life aren’t that way because they’ve just maintained healthy habits, it’s because “they won the genetic lottery”. In other words, everyone can abuse their bodies while they’re young, but only some people’s bodies are resilient enough to keep working well afterwards.
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