Elderly Athletes

When planning an exercise program for elderly athletes, it is important to take in specific considerations. Elderly athletes must carefully consider their muscle weakness in the lower extremities that go along with their age category. With these certain conditions in mind, training and conditioning programs should include strengthening goals regarding the lower half of the body. It is pivotal to train selective muscle groups mainly the knee and hips. As athletes age those two areas seem to be the weakest as we get older because they are used the most throughout an individuals life. While the importance of increasing strength is recognized in the elderly, the lack of aerobic fitness in the elderly tends to be an interference in accomplishing their strengthening goals.

In all likelihood, elderly athlete should continue to remain active and should participate in games for the fun and enjoyment of it. I can guarantee you that senior athletes feel better about themselves when they are able to get out there and perform daily activities. By participating in activities they will find themselves having more energy throughout the day and week. In conclusion, elders need to remain active and more importantly need to build their old strength up around the joints and areas that have become weak over the years. This will prevent injuries and other hardships seniors face as they get older. It is very simple, stay healthy, stay active and live a happy life. I truly believe that obesity is becoming an issue with our country today and we are going to have a lot of health issues with our younger generations unless we start implementing more active lifestyles with the kids growing up. That time is now.

P.A.S.T. Helping Ex-Athletes Return

In previous posts, I have blogged about the constant struggles retired athletes face when ending their professional careers. Doing some research on the internet, I was able to come across a program that I believe is ground breaking and should be available for all athletes when finishing their professional careers. P.A.S.T, is an organization for Retired Football Players specializing in Pain Management and Medical Resources which also provides medical services directly to individual retired players to address their various needs in the primary areas of Pain Management. These include evaluations, procedures and treatments.

PAST is a Pro Bono service, offered to retired players who are in crisis with their lives and who are simply struggling post-careers. I feel every professional sports organization should have a system like PAST to help transition these players to the next phase of their lives. So many people do not understand the hardships athletes face with their bodies and mind behaviors after they are done playing. PAST currently provides medical evaluations and a variety of medical services to retired players. This program is the first of its kind because P.A.S.T and their affiliated Pain Management, Medical, Drug Dependency facilities and physicians are opening up their doors strictly retired football athletes without having the ex-players go through a third party. It is programs such as these that really help people internally with their lives. I see this program as the new “nursing home” for athletes. It will be interesting to see how this works out because this is definitely a good start.

Retired Athletes and their Struggles

It can be difficult for professional athletes that are retiring from their sport to leave a successful sporting career behind and move on to a new life. The transition time can cause confusion and a lack of fulfillment. The retiring athlete may set new goals and establish a new career but they may still miss an important key. This key can be the difference between a successful transition or a loss of purpose and drive.

One problem athletes are consistently faced with is their ability to have their bodies hold up after they are done competing. By the time they are retired for two years, According to P.A.S.T., a pro bono organization specializing in helping retired athletes recover, 78% percent of NFL players are either bankrupt or have serious financial stress because of divorce and/or unemployment. Within five years of being retired, 60 percent of NBA players are broke. The same problem extends to baseball and hockey players. Retired athletes definitely suffer later in life in terms of their bodies and functioning properly. Like I have mentioned in earlier posts, retired athletes usually are the ones who are found getting the knee, hip and other body replacements later down the road. A veteran may be praised in their sport but in the long run, they will be the ones whom will not be able to walk by they time they are 60, 70 years old. I know from experience that playing football is fun and it is very hard to walk away from the sport but in 4 years of playing college football I have had two surgeries down on my shoulders and still find them dislocating at unexpected times. I look at my problems and wonder how a lot of these athletes live when they have played 10 years plus professionally.

NFL Athletes: Is it worth the stay?

In recent posts, I have blogged about the benefits that come with physical activity and the effects it has on people’s aging. However this week, I have decided to focus more on the sport of football and the troubles players face post careers. Looking earlier on, in the 1970’s, the average NFL player lasted nearly or close to five years in the league. By around the mid 1980’s NFL players gradually made a transition to a three year stay. Partly because people are becoming more physically stronger, faster and when these athletes are pushing further limits they are able to exert more force into their opponents causing severe damage to a person’s body. According to the NFL Players Association. A vested NFL player (meaning they get their pension after retirement) has to play at least 4 years. So this makes it interesting for players to go above the average players in the league and put more damage on their bodies so they are able to get this pension. I constantly hear stories of players who are considered veterans in the league who are unable to sit for long periods at a time because their bodies cramp up so they have to stand up and walk around for 20 plus minutes just so they don’t have problems. When you hear stories about these athletes it really shows they put a toll on their body and the aging process to make money and do what they love. It's a short stay for most and this is why you see athletes trying to get the most money from NFL owners.

Athletes and their Brain Behaviors

For several years there has been an ongoing debate towards professional athletes after they are through with their careers. As more and more professional athletes struggle after playing sometimes violent sports, researchers have begun to emerge on traumatic injury-related dementia suffered by former pro wrestlers, football players and boxers. Many doctors believe the cause of certain professional athletes dying prematurely is caused by the result of Alzheimer’s. In fact research has show that Alzheimer’s is not the root cause of professional athletes dying or taking their own lives, but in fact the men actually suffered from a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has similar symptoms as Alzheimer's. But its cause is far different; it is repeated concussion injuries to the head leading to brain damage.

Doctors today do not know really how to treat or diagnose CTE. That means many of these athletes cases of CTE are never diagnosed. And that is important, because it means that patients are never treated properly, and that potential new drugs to combat or hinder the dementia-related symptoms of CTE are never developed. This ultimately leads to athletes not being able to take care of themselves and in fact possibly becoming dangerous human beings and their families could be at risk. CTE is thought to initially impair normal brain functioning and eventually kills brain cells. CTE sufferers may display clinical symptoms such as memory impairment, emotional instability, erratic behavior, depression and problems with impulse control. A perfect and sad example was once professional wrestler Chris Benoit, who took not only his life but his wife and sons 3 years ago. Doctors determined he had high amounts of testosterone in his body and did not have proper brain functioning.

Aging Awarness

Statistically, it is proven that older athletes are much more likely to injure themselves than younger athletes today who are doing the same sport. However, looking at a more positive note, it has been found that even when accounting for their likelihood of injury, older athletes tend to be physically better off than the average person of their same age. For all athletes, a careful period dedicated to warming-up consisting of stretching and balance is key to reducing the chance of injury.

Balance is pivotal when doing any kind of physical activity, especially older athletes. Mainly because they are more susceptible to injuring themselves that will have long term effects for the rest of their life. This includes hematomas, artificial ligament replacements and many other serious consequences. Also another important factor is the sweat production and allowing the body to cool down and to increase blood flow to the skin. Blood flow to the skin in older, fit athletes is lower than in younger athletes. The lower blood flow associated with increasing age appears to be independent of hydration state. It also appears that, although sweat-gland recruitment is similar to that of younger athletes, older athletes produce less sweat per gland. Older athletes should be aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. They should also be aware that most heat exhaustion occurs before heat acclimatization. All in all, athletes should be careful of higher intense workouts when being acclimated to a new environment until their body is fully capable of performing.