Slowing down the climb before tumbling 'over the hill'

One of the more common phrases a person hears as they get older is being, “over the hill.” The “over the hill” can have a lot of different interpretations. For physical fitness and activity it usually refers to the fact that you can’t do the sports that you did at the same level of performance you were able to do when you were younger. Depending on the sport, the over the hill age can vary. For a woman gymnast it might be in the 20’s. Football players for the most part are in their 20 – 30 age range. I have heard that the average life span for playing in the NFL is less than five years. Sports that do not demand a lot of physical strength and skill might still compete into their 50’s. For runners, the age for sprinters might be in the late 20’s, but marathon runners might make it to the late 30’s and early 40’s.

So, what age is it when you become “over the hill?” I remember in my college days reading an article that said, “If you were 40 years old or older you need to get a doctor’s physical and to slow down”. There are Masters level competition for most sports that start when the athlete reaches 40 years of age. In road races most have a Masters Champion category for runners over 40 years. Some even have a Senior Masters category for runners over 50 years, and a Grand Masters category for runners after the age of 60 years. Basically this division exists for runners that are “over the hill” for winning the overall championship but still compete at a high level. I recall one of my half marathon races some years ago where 14 out of the top 15 runners were all over 40 years, and a woman in the 50 year category took first overall.

Can exercise and an active lifestyle really delay, or slow down, this aging process that we have been told about? Without a doubt exercise can slow down, and in some cases, even reverse the effects of getting older. Studies have shown that people over 65 years of age lose about 20% of their strength from not exercising. Research by Dr. Bill Evans at Tufts University years ago of senior citizen exercise programs has demonstrated strength increases, muscle density growth, and lower fat content in the body. In some cases dramatic strength increase was with people over 90 years of age. Staying active throughout a person’s life can increase the VO2 level of an individual, slow the heart rate down, and increase the blood volume by the heart.

I have found over the years with working with active individuals, and from personal experience, if you keep active the rate at which a person slows down, or becomes over the hill, is delayed for many years. The one key factor that is important is staying active. If a high-level skilled athlete stops exercising after they get older, the return to that same level of performance is very difficult, if not impossible, to regain. If you are active now, my advice is to stay active as long as you can, because taking a break for a few years and trying to get back to activity is really a tough task.

If you have been inactive for years and recall your younger college age years, and think you can do the same level of activity again, try to resist that impulse. One friend in his 50’s decided to start running. His idea of running dated back to his football days and those 40 yard sprints after practice. Start slow, realize that you will not reach that young age level of performance of your youth, and be satisfied with being active at a different level. You’ve been sedentary for a long time and your body doesn’t always remember what it did when you were 20 years old. You might not weigh the same as you did back then, the muscles are not as strong as they were, and probably your flexibility is not like it used to be. Any hard physical activity without a gradual conditioning program can lead to injuries.

My favorite story was talking to a friend in his 70’s and had retired to Florida. He was complaining to me about the over-65 year’s softball team he played on. He said, “They’ve put me in the outfield. I think that they should make those young guys play out there and let us old guys play the infield.” These young players that he was referring to were all over 65 years of age.

It is easier if you are active from 20 years of age to 65 years of age and not have to go through a reconditioning period somewhere in those middle years. It’s healthier and why miss out on all those years of fun and activity. But, just remember, it never too late to start being active again.