At age 61 it is easy to see I have lost my athleticism from my teenage to twenties years. I played all three competitive sports through high school and extended my basketball years through college and early 30's in the military. I can look back and see the start of the breakdown of my physical athleticism beginning around age 36. How about you?

I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good ONCE as I ever was......

Thirty pounds ago.

Never had any to lose -
I just work a little bit, every day.

Mark

I just started back in the gym last week -little tired and sore ,but will be back in good shape in six weeks'ish.
Very thankful to not have any health issues -like bad knee -shoulder etc...
Don't ever give up you can get in shape when you're 75 years old as long as you aren't dead.

I have some isms but athleticism was never one of them.

Mike

40.

And whatever I have left is leaving fast.

Getting old sux balls!

Depends on how you define athleticism. If you're talking quickness, I'd say early thirties.

6

Yep. We can't stop getting old and grey but damned if we have to get fat and weak at the same time.

My prime was probably 30-32. At 45 I could keep up with any aerobics instructor in the gym step for step and play softball on a city league as vigorously as anyone.

Around 48-49 I noticed that it was getting a lot more difficult to keep up like that. At 55 I noticed that the poundage that was my "low weight high rep" workout at 50 was now my "high weight low rep" workout.

But at 61 myself I hit the gym 3-5 times per week - weight training and cardio. Not going to beat some 20 year old or probably even a 45 year old in a race and certainly not a power lift but I am happily amazed at what I still can do compared to a lot of the fat old coots that are my same age but are officially "old".

I think the poster Benchman here is around 56 or so and he recently set a record for bench press. If he sees this he can fill in the correct details.

There are a couple of guys in their mid-80's at least at the gym. I see them in there working with the 5 and 10 pound dumbbells and even with older skin you can tell they have good muscle tone and I think, "good for you!".

Just keep moving. Like I said at the start, we can't stop getting old and grey but there's no reason to get fat and weak in the process.

I'm getting older at 57 and it's taking it's toll but I still have some athleticism left. I'm not in the best shape of my life but I wouldn't be afraid to go downhill skiing.

I can ride a snowmachine like a twenty year old. (ok, maybe 30)

And ...

I have no doubts about being able to kick the schit out of the most interesting man in world.

I approve this message.

I am 42 and feel comparable to what I was when I was in my early 20s. I still do my old lifting routine from my high school football days and my lifts are right at the same. If I did not work at it, this surely would not be the case. I can still burn a lot of calories on a Stairmaster. I think the key is to never quit a fitness routine for very long. I only take off Christmas and Independence Day week.

Somewhere in my 40's. Up until then I felt I could still do most anything I could have done in HS. Maybe a little slower, but still do it. In some ways I was better. I started running a lot in my 30's and was running distances then that I would have never attempted in my teens and 20's. Never was fast, but surprised myself with some of the endurance I picked up.

I severely sprained an ankle at about age 45 and couldn't run for 2-3 months. I gained 20 lbs and never got back to where I had been.

I felt pretty good until I was about 66. Then, I couldn't run anymore, a shoulder separation kept me from throwing anything overhanded and my balance was shot. Arthritis had crept into my hands along with carpal tunnel. Got the bum knee fixed and the shoulder is next on the list. Can't do anything about the arthritis and the balance--it's just part of aging.

Has TAK posted yet?

quickness and speed goes first, usually a decline starts in the 30's somewhere

strength is easier to maintain, but it too starts to dwindle as others have noted.

40's is what I miss the most, I've outwalked more than a few 20-30 year olds that thought they were in decent shape till they donned a full pack and hit the mountains with me.

I've no illusions about what I can or cannot do. I just trust and pray that some of the young guys have illusions about it. (grin)

I found that in one area at least, quickness increases...

You all are making me feel like an extraordinary average guy. I'd agree my speed and agility started to wane around my mid-thirties. But I was still running 5 miles a day and doing sets of 250 on the bench-press at 44/45. I started having lower back issues shortly after that and the old body started going downhill quickly.

September, 20 2001.

I've always been a sprinter. I'm still very quick at 41,its just the distance is shorter that I can maintain the burst of speed. That and I hurt afterwards if I don't really warm up first.

lol

see honey I'm always having to wait for you

Mid 40ish I'm guessing. Jogging on old back roads really tore up my back

This is an interesting subject.
I think there is a big decline at around age 41 and again at age 47.

Athleticism, as in speed and quickness? around late 40's for me. Strength? early 50's. Probably different for everybody. The strength decline (for me) was precipitated by a pretty severe hip injury. It does occur to me that if you work yourself pretty hard, injury can become a limiting factor, and affects everything. Limit strength peaked at 52 for me, but still is very high. Muscle mass is harder and harder to maintain at 59. I struggle to maintain 175 pounds bodyweight, when I could easily walk around at 185 ten years ago. Just cannot eat enough! Still hoping there is a 600 pound (geared) bench press left in me, but beginning to doubt it. Recently hit a 585(in training), and injured my ulnar nerve, kinda setting me back. Recovery is a LOT more than when I was younger.

I'm still above average athletic for 45

I heal slower but my spirit is still young

Had to give up softball finally at about 42, knees were flat out too stiff anymore considering I was a catcher.

Been down hill ever since.

Probably at 42 when I had my first open-heart by-pass, but I have been fortunate to be able to keep doing what I've always done. I'll be 67 in August, just try to slow down a little.


This past season about 1-1/2miles back in the ridges.

I'm 36 and have noticed 'odd' aches and pains in the last 2-3 years. Mainly in my hands(carpal tunnel and ganglion cyst) and knees(probably because I could lose 15-20lbs of beer belly).

Age 13 through early 30's was easy, not quite the same anymore.


My dad is in his mid 60's though and can still work 7 days a week so I try not to whine too much in front of him.


I guess the key is figuring out different ways to do things without hurting yourself. The old adage work smarter not harder applies.

Can't say that i ever had much interest in organised sports. Did enjoy pick up games of baseball, foorball ,volley ball and such.
I seemed to gravitate to endeavors like helping family with harvests, building sheds, laying block and bricks.

Jim

Can't really say. When I was young my one athletic asset was that I could hit a baseball, or softball, a country mile. My church decided to have softball game between the yutes and geezers one day. I came up to bat and must have swung at the ball while the pitcher still had some fingers on it. My hand to eye coordination had vanished. Not sure just where I lost it but I've never seen it since.

Slow and steady, slow and steady.

I do wish I was a bit more limber, I need to work on that. I'm about as limber as a 4x4.

In my late 30s, I noticed I was no longer a good shortstop, so I moved to 2nd base. In my mid 40s, I noticed I could still run 10 miles, but it hurt like the devil in the morning when my feet hit the floor and for about the first 10 minutes until I loosened up. My tennis game was more smarts and less running, but It wasn't crisp either. My hand/eye coordination is as good now as it ever was. I still am somewhat amazed at 59, that from the waist up, I feel 25, but if the legs are involved, things get a bit sluggish. I can still drop and do 25...but 26 is asking for a lot! Having never smoked - not even one, and drinking sparingly, I look 10 years younger than my chronological age, but looks are deceiving. I simply do not have the lower body joints left to start running again. Jogging is a waste of time, so it's speed walking now. Put me at a ping-pong table, and I'm back in the game!

Lettered in football as a senior, but never really was much of an athlete. Played basketball every Sunday with a group of buddies for about 10 years, but that was back into my late 20's. I'm 53 now, and still enjoy walking, riding the bike, and all my hunting is on foot. 'Haven't bought an ATV yet, although that's coming. I've definitely slowed down, that's for sure. I was my daughter's bullpen catcher for 10 years, and since I quit doing that, I can tell my knees bug me more now that when I was getting the work in on a daily basis. Through my 20's I fished a lot of bass tournaments, and seriously considered making another run at that next year, but a few half-days in the boat this spring cured me of that itch real quick. I get around fairly well, but I ain't no kid any more.

My peak was clearly just into college as I was a high school wrestler (5-11" 197 pound), a very good one actually. Climbing a rope up 40 feet was no drama. Not long after I met my college roommate's older Navy flyboy friend out of Lemore California in my third year of college. A sawed off arrogant little prick. Our relationship ultimately ended with me coming very close to killing him as he hung over the edge of a third floor apartment balcony rail and I had absolutely lost it. When it started he had no idea what was to be from this ghetto raised boy. I get bent just thinking about the scene so I will go mix a martini.

These days I am looking forward to a life I can plan around via retirement early next year. My wife has an exercise room in our Texas place that I have hardly lived in and I will get out and about with lungs pumping. The Idaho house, well it forcec lung and heart pumping. Looking forward to it more than any other bit of not working. Time...

To be honest, the day I was born.

I'm 40 and could stand to lose 40lbs but I carry it well on my frame. I have rods in my back, a plate and 5 screws in my left foot, rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder and a groin injury that just won't completely heal BUT I can still dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim

That being said, I'm not what I once was and know I will never be again. Those days are gone but I hunt and play smarter as I get older and that's ok with me

I'm 46 and I'm sure I've lost a step or two but what I've noticed the most is my recovery time. Been helping my 15 y.o. son with an off season football weightlifting program and I'm amazed at how quick his body recovers and gets stronger.

I'll be 55 in a couple months. When is this loss of athleticism supposed to kick in?

At one time I was probably what you call an athlete, now at seventy, I'm just an athletic supporter..............

You talkin' to me?


YOU TALKIN' TO ME?

Athleticism is over-rated......

I can still walk all day in these mountains huntin'......
I just don't go as far......



Why in hell did I walk up hill after chukar again?


Hunt smarter is my motto.....

30 lbs and 10 years ago[40]

Never had any. Never cared for sports anyway.

Closest we came was competitive shooting... and thats a mental game which was much more challenging to me.

Wife was athletic, and did triathlons up until about 45, and simply didnt' want to keep investing the time in them for training year round anymore. But she still keeps in shape at almost 50 like I am.

I can NOT pull my fire department load like the younger kids either. My 25 year old nephew and I are often a pair on hoselines and I definitely wear out before he does. And I don't expect it should really be any different.

I have arthritis in one ankle, the other knee, and a shoulder. Not a lot you can do but I think balance is different. I work on balance a lot because it's most definitely something that tends to get worse as you age, just like muscle mass. I can feel an improvement in my balance over the past few years since I've been working on it.

Too many stories about people who get old, fall, and break a hip. For lots, that's when the steep decline starts.

The last time I really had to hump a line killed me for the rest of the day and 2 more after that. I was dreading wildland fires and even the training for it. Back, knees and 1 ankle took the fun out of it.
My long walk days are gone because of it.
I can still ride a dirt bike without hurting too bad other than muscle fatigue from a long ride.
I started feeling more and more aches at work at about 52 and knew I couldn't go on after 55.

around 50. things started getting harder to do. MS kicked my azz
and now if I do enough to break a sweat I'm done for. have to sit until I get twitchy then I can go again.

Kind of hard to lose something I never had.

One year my gym teacher tried to recruit me for the football team, but I think he was just trying to be nice since we had let him bow hunt our farm for years.

Was always strong for my size, but was never into sports. A little baseball but that was it. Could climb like a monkey, lift bare blocks off the engine stand myself....that all changed in my 30's. 32 was like hitting a brick wall. Then again at 40. 43 now and feel weakened by this damn acid reflux, but once I get it straightened out im gonna try to build myself back up. I hate to see what 50 brings!

I didn't pay much attention to when, but I knew it was gone when I went paint balling with a bunch of 20 year olds and tried running away...

I've never been super athletic - played a little ball in high school, have always been more into hiking and hands on stuff than sports, but I have noticed that I have to "warm up" and stretch alot more now to work past the aches and pains. Never considered stretching before just jumping into doing something but now I have to. I'm 47

At 66 I run almost every day, four to six miles. Have a few aches and pains...so what? Biggest difference is I can't last all day at physical work like I used to. Couple of hours with a chainsaw is enough. Some afternoons I lie down for an hour or so to recharge.

I'm 54 and still do all of the things I did in my 20's albeit a bit slower. I can still hump the mountains to hunt and regularly run and bike to stay in shape. I have been doing more on an elliptical trainer to save my foot (PIA) for the upcoming cross country season with the kids I coach. I try very hard to stay aerobically fit, since when the heart goes we all go. I do planks, and pushups to maintain my core and upper body strength. I can't wait till I retire so I have more time to spend on my fitness. I always seem to be racing through the day to get everything done.

8 yoa

Never had any and still got most of it left :-)

A couple years ago, at 44, I played in a basketball game where the parents and coaches played against the local 9th grade boys team that my son played on.

Those kids could run us into the ground. The lift that I used to have seemed pretty mostly gone and a quick first step was like moving in wet concrete. The only advantage we had was we could muscle the kids a round. Which worked, because we won. But I don't think the kids realized that they could have killed us if they fastbreaked and full court pressed the whole game.

Late 30's. That's when the strength of youth started slipping away...

Really never was that athletic, but try to stay in shape. I started having my body "talk back" to me at age 31-32. That was only 3-4 years ago, but my knees and elbows just aren't the same. I can't run/sprint anymore or the knees will kill me for weeks. I can still squat and it feels good, but too deep will have my knees hurting after a few weeks and I'll have to lay off and start over at square one. Pushups and pullups feel great to my chest and back, as they should, but my elbows get overloaded if I don't warm up a lot and really ease into things. No "drop and give me 50", as a few rounds of that will have me incapacitated for the next month. This wasn't the case 5 years ago.

In 1990 at age 43 I decided that running and gunning and SAR was not to be in my future for very long. It was weird that as my mental skills and experience were at their best, injuries and age combined to lessen my value in protracted scenarios. Teaching and consulting were OK but no more adrenaline rushes and that is a tough addiction to shake. Today at 67 I realize that my decision led to a decent quality of life now. I no longer climb but can hunt in the mountains and take great hikes in great areas. Like Wageslave I just don't cover as much ground. I teach a CCW class once/week that entails about 10 hours on my feet between the range and classroom and I love doing it. We run competitive pistol drills at work constantly and I can more than hold my own w/ the young studs. Daily exercise and a positive attitude overcomes the aches and pains that I always wake up with. Never stop being as active as your mind and body allows. Fun is important!

Old guy diatribe over.

mike r

I played all three sports in high school, but excelled at baseball, I played competitive softball till my early 40's, 5-6 nights a week. I'm 48 now, and my hand eye coordination is still as good as ever, but the strength and endurance is fading fast.

I got a shot for that in 68.

Started in 85 when i ruptured 4 disks in my lower back.
It sucks because i only had 5 horses green broke by then.
No more riding horses,motorcycles or 4 wheelers.

Haven't lost it yet...but I haven't had a 40 timed in a while either... Played football through college and got into MMA after that. I still lift, box, and wrestle. A little while back I got a call to play in an old timers football game. Practiced once a week for about 8 weeks then the game. I felt great except for a stinger. Played linebacker every play until we got up by 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter...I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year. I'm the guy helping him up:

20 years, 2-1/2 months.
A bullet to the spine took the athleticism right out of me!

Damn dude, hate to hear that.

If you're not dead you're not done.

I can steal pick-up full elephant tusk and run it right thru the saw @ 41

Maybe tomorrow.

Tom

That was going on 45 years ago. I've adapted.

I could tell my first step quickness in basketball was going by my mid 20s, and my jumping ability by early 30s. Overall strength kept increasing until mid 30s and has not waned noticeably now in my mid 40s. My days of playing pickup games are over though.

I think I peaked at about 25, as most of us do. I still run very well for an old fart of 50, but I sure as schit can't do what I did 25 years ago.

At least my hair is hanging in there.

I've been active athletically my whole life, running until about four years ago when I tore the gastrocnemius muscle in my right calf (my right calf is now 1.5" greater in circumference than my left) but have been on an elliptical or bike riding since. So, for sixty-four, I'm in relatively good shape. I think.

Back in HS I ran the 440 yd dash (now the 400 meters) and did 50.7 sec once. To put that in perspective, under 50 seconds would get you a D1 track scholarship then. I was pretty fast. In the 80's one summer I thought I'd run a 440 (once around the track) after jogging and loosening up. I was in the 40's probably and just curious as to what it would feel like. Though I was in pretty good condition, I couldn't get one under 90 seconds and that hurt me.

Of course, the process is gradual and insidious and I'm sure outside of running where older folks can still be competitive, I lost my quickness and strength by mid-thirties at the latest.

I think the biggest thing I've noticed in the late fifty's and beyond is loss of muscle mass and even earlier a loss of proprioception regarding balance and security in footing; for example in skiing, etc. it's that momentary and instantaneous insecurity as you're negotiating uneven terrain.

Ha! We're all crumbling. "Three score and ten and if by strength more".

It's interesting how some define athleticism. This is along the lines of what I was thinking. Some of the best athletes in the world are in the NFL, NHL, and NBA, and they are pretty much declining in their early 30's and done before 40, and this is with access to the best training an nutritional programs money can buy.

But many campfire members show no decline into their 40's and 50's. Maybe beer is the breakfast of champions, who knew?

I don't consider being able to hump a pack in the mountains to be athleticism. Lots of older guys can do those things if their joints hold up. I think it has more to do with stamina, mental toughness, and just plain orneriness.

Right up to the time[about ten years ago], that those damn mountains, that I've hunted for over 30 years, all of a sudden got steeper! And those same canyons got longer and steeper! Whata up with that? Being 63 I guess. Still give it hell tho.

I never was considered athletic and to make it worse I was a heavy smoker in my teens and twenties. I ran a rather slow 6 Min. 20 second mile when I was in Army boot camp. Stopped smoking at age 28 which seemed to almost immediately cause a tendency to gain weight.

I would get in shape by jogging and running wind sprints in preparation for my annual western states mule deer hunt. So using the hill climbing and hunting in the west as a reference, I did OK through my 30's & 40's, severely slowing down in my 50's. My last trip was to the foothills west of Cody when I was 59 and it was just too painful to find much pleasure in it.
Been whitetail hunting from stands since then.

In hindsight at age 69 if I made a loss chart of my endurance and strength levels, it would look like a long range bullet drop chart, a parabola that drops off suddenly at the end. the last 10 years dropped more than the combined 30 years before.

In my late thirties I used to impress my nephews, who were then in their early to middle twenties, by keeping pace with them in an all-out sprint. Maintained that ability till I was about forty. I doubt I could do much sprinting at all now that I'm in my early 50s. At any rate, I haven't tried in about ten years.

haven't lost it yet at 50

Well you're a freak of nature, so what do you expect?

I'm not sure. It seems like only yesterday when I was joggin' at warp 7 that I ran into myself. We got drunk together and it's sort of been Groundhog Day since then. What year is it?

What if a pickup was chasing you?

I'm 73 and can kick stx's ass.

Ya but how fast can you run after you kick him in the ass?

2525 why? Your memory going too?

I can run faster scared than Roger can mad!

I believe I was in my forties at the time. Nevertheless, it was little more than a hop and a jump to the curb. Can hardly call it a sprint. I assume you're referring to when that guy either actually tried to run me and my dog down, or intended to put me in apprehension of same.

Good thing a pickup can't jump the curb!!

Regardless, had I not moved fast I would have been flattened for sure.

j/k Hawk.

Of course you were. You kid, though, based on false assumptions.

Turn 60 next month. Played softball 2/3 times a week until 38. Started to slow a little after that, but I can still set up and climb into my tree stand yet, just a little slower and sore after a all day hunt. I can still walk 5 miles and not slow down, so I'm hanging in there.

I didn't have access to those things. Maybe I'd have been in better shape at that age if I had. Maybe the sense of limited loss of athleticism is because I didn't reach the same maximums those pro athletes did.

On the other hand, I don't have the extreme wear and tear they do, either.

Tom

If I had their bank accounts, I could deal with the wear and tear.

Many here have stated that they were never "athletic" and they never played competitive sports. That's one of the main reasons they don't notice a fall-off in athletic ability until later years than average.....they can still do the same things they always could.

An "athlete" notices the change much sooner....because it "matters" more. In high school I played all sports, football (All State), basketball (State Championship team), track (2 State Championships), cross country (regional champion), and baseball (good enough to play pro ball).

Even as young as 18 I noticed that injuries (shoulders and a knee) were effecting my play at times, but I played through it and didn't really notice too much drop in ability. Probably because I was still getting bigger, stronger and faster at that age (who knows how much better if I wasn't injured).

In my 20's I played college football, a short bit of pro baseball, city leage basketball and played fast pitch softball on three state championship teams and rode bulls in professional rodeo. I was in my prime....stronger than ever, cat-quick and could run like a deer. Endurance was there as well.....I ran the mile in 4:20 and the three mile in 14:30 while in college.

By age 26-27 I had suffered more injuries..... another knee (bulls), shouders (bulls and softball) and lower back (more bulls....rodeo is not a recogmended sport). I was still competing at a high level in softball and semi-pro baseball, but I hurt all the time and didn't bounce back like I once did.

By age 32-33 I noticed that hits which were once doubles were now singles and triples were a rarity. Where I once led the state in stolen bases....I was now second or third best in our own league. I could still play championship ball as a point guard, but that first step was just a bit slow and twisting drives down the lane were not nearly as often as before. I was still very good, but now relied more on experience and "trickery" than on pure ability.

By age 36 pain was a constant companion. It hurt to run, it hurt to throw, and it really hurt to be involved in a "crash" at the plate (I became VERY good at avoiding the tag rather than going through the catcher). I was very obviously slowing down. I had to give up center field (couldn't chase down those long hits) and though my batting average was still exceptional (nothing wrong with my hand-eye coordination yet) I had to really crush the ball to beat out a double. Stolen bases were a fond memory. I gave up basketball totally. My whole "game" was built on quickness that I no longer posessed.

At age 42 I was basically finished as an "athlete". I THOUGHT I was in pretty good shape until I entered a charity three mile run. Figured that I once could do this in under 15 minutes.....this should be a piece of cake. When I staggered across the finish line my knees felt like ice picks were being inserted with every stride and I was WAY back in the pack (just under 20 minute time was embarassing). My softball manager suggested that I could stay on the team as a player-coach and pinch hit.....but no longer start every game. I chose to quit and play (shudder) slow pitch instead. Even there I had to move to second base because I was too slow to play the outfield and it hurt too much to make those long throws.

By age 46 I had to choose between quitting softball all together....or drop down to church league. I quit. The desire was still there but my body was shot.

As an "athlete" it was very apparent that my abilities were suffering through the years. It could be easily measured and compared to what I once could do. Without athletics this drop-off in ability would not have been so obvious. Even at age 45 I could walk younger men into the ground, lift as much weight as ever and out-work most 20 year olds. Part of this was hard-headedness and being in relatively good shape, but even so I hurt all the time and even more so after I "out-worked" those young guys.

Without sports I would have probably have claimed to not have any loss in ability until at least age 45-50 (except for the pain)....but the truth is it was a down hill trip from the mid to late 20's just as it is for most men. At 58 I can still do pretty much anything I want to.....I just don't WANT to do some things as much as I did when younger

HUGE bullschidt flag.

I really relate to so many guys posting here. This is one of the most interesting threads I've read in some time on the fire.

I was an exceptional athlete in my youth, but about age 28 I began to notice a decline in stamina, so I quit the martial arts to reserve my strength for work. At that time, I was training several days a week and working 6 days a week physically. At 48, I now have knee pain, but can still do anything I want, albeit at a slower pace. I do notice my eyesight deteriorating rapidly and balance must be very deliberate, not quick and easy as in my youth. I notice most guys I hunt with lack lung capacity and I easily outpace them being a former competitive runner, so as long as the joints and muscles hold up, the lungs are good to go. As far as muscles go, I must be very careful to give them rest and nutrition or they fail me.
I take awhile to warm up, and take longer to recover (days rather than overnight) but I still do what I want, if at a delayed time schedule due to recovery time from hard work or play. For me, I think age 42 was when the BIG change hit me. As I said, 48 now. Still kicking ass, but smaller and slower ass, that's all.

Me packing my buddy's bear head and hide the other day. 1600 vertical feet and two miles to get this bear. Took about three hours to get there and call him in with a fawn bleat.

I was 165 pounds of rawhide & spring steel until I was into my late 40's. At age 38 I was diagnosed with hypertension. That made me so mad it made my blood pressure go up!

That was the advent of the decline. Oddly, at 56 years of age now & 240 pounds, I weigh 8 more pounds than the day I graduated high school. Not too bad.

Probably saw competitive skills fall off around 40, broken bones, pulled hammys and quads, just a bit slower reactions. Really doesn't bother me so much anymore, the memories suffice. I can still play a mean game of ping pong though!

I played hockey and baseball all thru high school. Went to college and only played softball occasionally, stopped playing hockey altogether. Did tons of backpacking and moose packing but didnt really play any sports again until I was 40. I quit chewing Copenhagen after 25 years and needed something to take my mind off of the temptation so I started playing hockey again. I still had the hands of stone of my youth, but was surprised that I still had a lot of speed compared to guys my age. Trouble is that the speed comes with a price, my hips hurt for a couple days after every game. In the past three years I've learned to tone it down enough to keep from hurting so bad every time I skate.

I play with a guy who is 76 years old and a bunch of guys in their late 50's. Yea, they have slowed down,but they are in good shape and will probably have more mobility later in life because of it.

Even if your abilities wane, stick with it, slow down if you have to, but keep truckin..

Pro athletes function at a very high percentage of their potential AND measure it daily. Most people trundle along at 60% or so. If you keep improving technique and preparation, you CAN maintain that 60%, even if your body is beginning to wane. As a strength athlete, I do not deal with athleticism in the usual sense, like running and jumping. I certainly was nowhere near 100% potential. However, I CAN tell you almost exactly when my strength began to decline, because I WAS near 100% potential AND measured it regularly. Simple, really.

Quick healing and I parted company in my early 30s, my get up and go got up and went in my late 30s, my short distance eyesight was misplaced in my mid 40s, my memory wandered off a few months ago...and apparently I will be 50 in a couple of months.

I am expecting my arse to drop off, and hopefully I will remember where my glasses are so I can find it.

My hangovers got noticeably worse after 30.

World Class Fitness in 100 Words

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
Practice and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics:pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstands, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.
Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. ROUTINE IS THE ENEMY. Keep workouts short and intense.
Regularly learn and play new sports!

...ohhh there.

...so much time upon to rest easy.

Never had it.

Yup, that's when I lost my athleticism too.

My issue is more of being out of shape and overweight than having lost my athleticism. Or rather if I loose weight and get back in shape I'll be more athletic than I've been in the past ~20 years. Just turned 45 and the biggest thing I notice is not being able to focus my eyes up close.

When your kids hit their teenage years that's when you really feel it. Because they're strong enough to whup you in things you used to be able to wup them in. I really noticed that this past season down hill skiing. I can keep up with them for a few runs, then my legs start to really burn and I have to take it easy. I used to wonder why the older folks would hang out in the bar instead of getting in as many runs as possible. Now I understand