A few years back, the online wellness world got obsessed with a bold claim: 95% of adults over the age of 30 will never sprint again.
It’s the internet, so of course this concept came from nowhere and was impossible to verify. On my end, I used it as an excuse to write a big “how to reach top speed again” guide, which you can read here. (Please don’t blow a hamstring.)
All that said: while 95% is an outlandish percentage, I wouldn’t be surprised if a majority of American adults have completely forgotten what it feels like to sprint.
Here’s one key reason: an overwhelming number of Americans abruptly stop playing sports. According to a 2015 poll conducted by the National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard Chan School, participation in sports falls off a cliff after the age of 26. If you’re not hauling ass down a sideline to score (or prevent a score), when else are you doing so? I guess to catch the train?
Of course, the benefits of sports participation go well beyond sharpening fast-twitch fibers or cutting cancer-causing fat. Sports are dynamite for both physical and emotional well-being. To that end, I thought I’d dig into why so many of us quit sports in the first place — and the mighty rewards of sticking with even just one.
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That Harvard-led poll offered a few reasons for why adults quit sports, namely: they’re worried their bodies can’t handle it, they feel like they don’t have enough time or they’re just not interested. Let’s tackle these one by one.
To the first point: I have so many friends haunted by ACL surgeries, sprained ankles, shoulders that love to pop out at importunate times…you name it. It’s totally understandable that by the age of 26, sick of sharp pains and Spear co-pays, many adults hang up their cleats. Besides, the threat of injury only compounds as you march into your 30s and 40s.
But it’d be a damn shame to pull yourself out of the game on account of poor fitness — or worse, for fear of your skillset failing you. Consider: whatever expectations you set back in the glory days need to be recalibrated. It’s unlikely you’ll ever play a game with the same stakes you found on a weekly basis in high school or college sports. But then, you’re also not practicing for two-and-a-half hours, six days a week. The relationship has to evolve in kind.
Which brings us to the second point: Stack your sport of choice up against your work, your chores or your kids, and of course it’ll plummet down the priority rankings. But how much time are we talking, really? A couple hours a week? Three at most? If you make the activity sacred again, you’ll find time to play.
Finally, for those whose parents never signed them up for a league — and also for those whose parents signed them up for too many leagues, robbing gameplay of its simple joy — know that it’s never too late. Your peers may be quitting sports before the age of 30, but you can pick one up now and play for the next 40 years.
The Rewards of Showing Up
A final, fascinating takeaway from that poll: “Their own lack of participation did little to quell parents’ enthusiasm for their children’s engagement with sports. In the poll, 89 percent of parents with a middle or high school-aged child said their child benefitted greatly from playing sports, which improves mental and physical health, discipline, dedication and social skills.”
Hmm. I like this. It demonstrates how society understands, overwhelmingly, that sports are essential for well-being. So considering we don’t live in the Bronze Age (when the average life expectancy was 26), quitting them with so much life ahead of you just doesn’t make any sense.
A study from the Journal of Health and Sport Science, published in 2019, went deeper on this concept, landing on a few core reasons that “older adults” (aged 55 and older) continue to participate in sports. These include: “maintaining health, feeling and being part of a community, taking advantage of opportunities to develop relationships…competing and attaining a feeling of achievement, taking advantage of opportunities for travel, and being part of a team.”
Playing sports is an inherently risky enterprise. No matter the stakes — whether competing in an intense intramural soccer league, or playing a low-key pickleball game with friends — you’re opening yourself to the risk of injury, failure and sometimes even embarassment.
But staying in the game means staying prepared. It’s use it or lose it. And “using it” will grace so many other corners of your life. Sports are more fun when you’re fit. Injuries are harder to come by when your hips are loose. Failures on the field are a welcome relief from mishaps in your life.
Whatever sport you like, no matter your skill level, commit to playing it for the long haul. The longer you play it, the longer you’ll likely live. But the real rewards will pile up along the way.
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