Longevity in sports refers to the ability of athletes to maintain participation and performance in their respective sports for long periods of time. However, not all sports are created equal. Some will give you more years to live, at least that's what a study conducted 25 years ago found. Sports that are related to greater longevity include tennis, badminton, soccer and cycling.
And older adults who are part of a sports team or exercise group also tend to live longer, 3.The other side of the coin of performance optimization is the optimization of longevity. Longevity optimization focuses on what is comprehensively needed to maintain the best overall health and fitness far beyond what would be considered the “best time” for a warrior athlete. Optimizing longevity means recognizing that life is a marathon, not a sprinting race. Optimizing longevity means avoiding injuries and not sacrificing long-term health for the sake of short-term goals.
It means maintaining mission readiness at an acceptable level, if not at a maximum level, for extended periods of time. Think of it as the reliable car that you drive for years, rather than the sports car that “drives in the red until it breaks down.” This doesn't mean that optimizing longevity only precludes optimizing performance. On the contrary, the two things can go hand in hand and in fact they go hand in hand. The study yielded expected and intriguing results. In men, the longest lifespan was observed in pole vaulting and gymnastics (8.4 and 8.2 years, respectively).
Racket sports and mixed athletics were not far behind (5.7 years in both cases). Overall, most sports were associated with statistically significant lifespan extension, and soccer and wrestling showed some of the smallest positive effects. Understanding this association is fundamental to understanding the collective benefits of participating in sports for human health and longevity, regardless of other factors that may be related to longevity, and can provide valuable information for athletes to make informed decisions about choosing activities that contribute positively to improving health and longevity.
