{"id":609857,"date":"2026-08-31T04:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609857\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T04:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:58:14","slug":"we-cant-all-be-like-lebron-james-at-41-but-these-athletes-still-have-lots-to-teach-us-about-active-ageing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609857\/","title":{"rendered":"We can\u2019t all be like LeBron James at 41. But these athletes still have lots to teach us about active ageing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The poet Dylan Thomas famously wrote<\/a>, \u201cold age should burn and rave at close of day\u201d \u2013 and a high-profile cohort of professional athletes seems to be taking him literally. <\/p>\n

Samoan-New Zealand rugby great Ma’a Nonu (44) recently fronted<\/a> for South African provincial team the Sharks against his old side, the All Blacks, to plaudits from fans of both teams. <\/p>\n

Lebron James (41) remains a force in the United States National Basketball Association, averaging 20.9 points per game and 7.2 assists in his 23rd season. <\/p>\n

Courtney Dauwalter (41) won the gruelling 2026 Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run<\/a>, adding to her trove of ultra-distance successes. Japanese footballer Kazuyoshi Miura (59) continues to inspire in his 42nd professional season.<\/p>\n

A relative junior, Argentina\u2019s legendary Lionel Messi played in this year\u2019s FIFA World Cup final<\/a> aged 39. Portuguese superstar Christiano Ronaldo was 41 at the tournament \u2013 twice the age of world football\u2019s emerging stars.<\/p>\n

Of course, these are exceptions to the rule. They are genetically gifted, highly trained, arguably fortunate to have avoided career-limiting injuries, and have access to world-class physiotherapists, nutritionists and coaches. <\/p>\n

Indeed, athletes over 40 remain outliers in professional sport. Many spend fewer than five years at the top, often experiencing injury as they reluctantly transition out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But that is not to say we can\u2019t learn from these legends. Importantly, they share with the rest of us a common underlying physiology and the capacity to adapt significantly to training. <\/p>\n

They demonstrate the process of normal ageing does not have to be associated with major losses in fitness or strength.<\/p>\n

Ageing doesn\u2019t mean decline and disengagement<\/p>\n

Around the developed world, population levels of inactivity<\/a> in middle and later life are high, approaching 40% in many regions.<\/p>\n

For those who do remain active, health is a major motivation<\/a> \u2013 with good reason. The leading causes of death<\/a>, heart disease and stroke, are strongly influenced by modifiable lifestyle factors, including inactivity. <\/p>\n

Dementia also shares vascular risks with other leading killers, suggesting a dual role for exercise in sustaining physical and cognitive health<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Inactivity reduces quality of life because of its adverse impact on metabolism, frailty<\/a>, muscle loss<\/a>, and depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Encouragingly, however, inactivity is not a symptom of age-related declines in fitness, it is a root cause.<\/p>\n

The human body retains a remarkable capacity to adapt as we age. Research suggests older adults can make major improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness<\/a> and strength<\/a>, with meaningful adaptations continuing beyond 70 years of age.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re never too old to use it<\/p>\n

Age-related change is often treated as a one-way decline. In reality, regular training can preserve function and, in many cases, significantly improve it. <\/p>\n

This remains true even for people who begin exercise later in life. Age simply changes the starting point. The ability to respond to appropriate training stimulus is still there.<\/p>\n

\"Ma'a<\/a><\/p>\n

Ma’a Nonu (44) with All Black Jordie Barrett (29).
\n Steve Haag Sports\/Gallo Images\/Getty<\/p>\n

We may not all dunk like Lebron, bound over rocks like Courtney or attack like Nonu. But older athletes provide striking examples of what remains possible on the other side of the proverbial hill.<\/p>\n

Consider the sub-15-second 100-metre sprint world record of over-80 men\u2019s champion Kenton Brown from the US, or the sub-seven-minute mile of over-75 women\u2019s world record holder Sarah Roberts from the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s Chunli Li won the women\u2019s table tennis gold at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games aged 40. Following nearly a decade of retirement, she returned to compete at the 2014 Glasgow games aged 52. <\/p>\n

Again, these examples are exceptional. But they remind us the ceiling for older bodies is much higher than we might assume.<\/p>\n

No need for extremes<\/p>\n

Evidence suggests the number of middle-aged and older adults taking part in serious sport and recreational endeavours is increasing<\/a>, particularly in endurance events<\/a> <\/p>\n

For most people over 40, though, the goal is not an elite career, but to maintain fitness, strength, and to preserve the independence that makes life worth living.<\/p>\n

That could mean completing a local park run, hiking a trail with family, returning to social football, playing with grandchildren or simply carrying groceries without pain or falling. <\/p>\n

Aerobic exercise, resistance training and regular movement can all produce meaningful benefits. The most useful programme is usually not the most extreme, it\u2019s the one that can be sustained and built on. <\/p>\n

People who have underlying health conditions should seek appropriate medical advice before beginning a new exercise programme. <\/p>\n

But the alternative also carries risks. As Swedish exercise physiologist Per Olaf Astrand<\/a> would have put it, we might be equally well advised to seek a doctor\u2019s opinion before committing to prolonged inactivity. <\/p>\n

Next time you are watching Ma’a Nonu, LeBron James, Courteney Dauwalter or another veteran athlete and wondering how they\u2019re still doing it, remember not to compare their performance and yours. <\/p>\n

The better comparison is between what your body can do today and what you are capable of tomorrow. To return to Dylan Thomas, never squander an opportunity to \u201crage against the dying of the light\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The poet Dylan Thomas famously wrote, \u201cold age should burn and rave at close of day\u201d \u2013 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-609857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}