Why can wrestler’s compete well into their 40s and sometimes 50s and stay in great shape and perform crazy stunts but actual professional athletes rarely play into their even late 30s?

Question

Please don’t just tell me because wrestling is fake because a quick Google search on wrestler’s injuries and you’ll see that it’s definitely not fake all the time and is very dangerous.

In: Other

Answer 1

Although it’s not fake in terms of what they are actually doing it’s fake in terms of who will win. It’s predetermined.

This means that even though its tough job you are payed for your performance/acting.

The outcome of professional sports is purely the athletic skills and endurance and training of the athletes (at least officially). And since aging is taxing for the body and younger athletes most of the time surpass the older ones they stop competing at a certain age, which is commonly around 30 to 40 years. In those years the body is past its peak performance. Of course you can stay in great shape and be sporty and compete but its harder.

But it’s not uncommon to have athletes compete well into their thirties. Afaik Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novák Djokovic all are 30 plus.