As we look at getting older, we all hope we can keep our bodies going. That we’ll be able to do everything we need or want to do. The reality is that many will struggle with basic mobility while others will be healthier and fitter at 70 than those decades younger. What does it take? One source for answers is the professional athletes who continue to dominate their sport in their 40’s and beyond. Here’s what we can learn from elite older athletes.

Elite older athletes like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, and LeBron James provide a wealth of information on how to keep going. In Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age, Jeff Bercovici reveals the science and strategies behind these and other professional athletes who extend and even improve on their success as they age.

Certainly, much of their regimens are beyond the average individual’s budget and time constraints. Most of us can’t afford to purchase a cryotank (they start around $50K) for two-minute sessions in a ‘cryosauna’ at minus 220 degrees to suppress inflammation after a workout. Nor can we support a staff of coaches, therapists, nutritionists, alternative health practitioners, and more to keep us in top form.

Why We Should Look at What They’re Doing

Elite athletes have the money and connections to access new and relatively untested technology. When you’re a 39-year-old quarterback, you’re probably not willing to wait long to see if something works before trying it. Bercovici cites a study that shows a 17-year lag between when a new technique is pioneered and the time it’s available to the general population. Professional athletes are often more than willing to take a gamble on the unknown.

Peering into the world of elite athletes is literally a glimpse into the future the rest of us will soon be living in.

Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age, Jeff Bercovic

Interestingly, Bercovici also touches on our elite military personnel. As an example, Navy SEALs, with an average age of 30, each represent an investment of somewhere between $10 million and $15 million. In an effort to extend the longevity of these and other highly trained personnel, the Department of Defense supports academic research into orthopedic injuries, nutrition, and human performance.

What does this mean for you?

So, how do we benefit? What can we learn from elite older athletes? What immediately accessible techniques are they using? How do their workouts change with increasing age? Here’s a small sampling of things you can try:

  • Cross-training. Not breaking news, but elite older athletes look beyond the basic concept and take up specialty sports like Brazilian Jujitsu. Expand your definition of cross-training.
  • Antigravity technology. Top of the line uses something like the AlterG. You can make do with pool or elliptical work and also unload through mobility work (e.g. stretching).
  • Kaatsu, or restricted blood flow training, dramatically shortens workouts and causes less muscle tearing. This is only accessible through a professional but there is an increasing number of therapists and trainers who use this method.

Guidelines for Smarter Workouts

In general, successful older athletes become smarter and more intentional in their workouts. To emulate their success, Bercovici encourages us to ramp up slowly with our training and taper off occasionally, instead of jumping in quickly with the expectation of going all out with no breaks in sight.

In the same vein, he says easy days should definitely be easy while hard workouts should be shorter and more intense. In particular, many approach HIIT (high intensity interval training) the wrong way. They go too hard when they should be going easy and too easy during the hard portions.

Bercovici spends a great deal of time delving into the mindset of the elite athlete. How maturity pays off on the playing field. His stories range from Boston marathoners to Olympic athletes and across the board with professional athletes. Play On is worth a read for insights on how elite athletes persevere and often have better success with age.

You don’t have to be a world-class competitor (or even a small-time one) to benefit. Look at how you can apply some of their principles to your life.

Nutrition for the Older Athlete

We know that, as a whole, most of us are far more sedentary than our ancestors. That, in spite of better medical care, we struggle with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. While athletes are all over the place with their nutrition, Bercovici claims three main takeaways:

  • Increase your protein intake to avoid muscle loss.
  • Collagen/gelatin/bone broth is one of the few fads with science to back it up.
  • It’s not so much what elite athletes are eating, it’s what they’re avoiding (sugar, processed foods, etc.).

Perhaps the most inspiring thing I read in Bercovici’s book came from the author himself. In pondering his admiration for these elite athletes, he offers this for the rest of us mortals:

Greatness is a burden, and there’s a profound freedom in knowing you’ll never have it. There’s nothing like trying something new and sucking at it, then sucking a little less every day you keep at it. Until science makes it possible to get younger, getting fitter, faster, and better at what you love will remain the closest thing most of us have.

Play On, Bercovici

Stay fit!