Athletes defying father time

doubledragon

Interesting article about athletes performing well at an older age.

Why older athletes like Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady are still winning

Chellsie Memmel, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Serena Williams are defying Father Time.

These athletes are beating their competitors — and Father Time.

On Sunday, PGA Tournament champion Phil Mickelson became, at 50 years old, the oldest golfer to win a major. Tom Brady, 43, notched his seventh Super Bowl championship in February, breaking his own record as the oldest player to do so. That same month, Serena Williams, 39, made history at the Australian Open as the oldest active player to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal.

Last weekend, Olympic gymnast Chellsie Memmel came out of retirement to compete at the US Classic — at the relatively geriatric age of 32.

“Today, athletes definitely have different expectations surrounding career longevity,” said Tim Grover, author of “Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness.” “They want to play longer.”

Phil Mickelson, 50, is now the oldest golfer to win a major.

He credits this new wave of mature success to combination of mental training, nutrition and technological advancements that help manage bodily stress and mitigate injury.

“There’s so many resources available out there that allow us to gather this information on performance and incorporate it into working out, rest and nutrition, and massage therapy and muscle activation,” said Grover, who has trained Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Russell Wilson. “We were just kind of playing with all of these pieces in the ’80s and ’90s. Now, every athlete has found their teams who all have their specialities.”

Brady is famous for his monastic TB12 method that shuns nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) and puts pliability — working out with resistance bands and vibrating rollers to make muscles more soft and resilient — first.

Last weekend, Olympic gymnast Chellsie Memmel came out of retirement to compete at the US Classic.

But what’s good for the GOAT isn’t always good for the gander. High-performance athletes have individualized programs that cater to their specific needs, deficiencies and strengths.

“The program I had Kobe on was totally different from what I had MJ on and same for Dwyane Wade,” said Grover. And that may mean they don’t end up with a six-pack. “Guys like Tom Brady and Phil don’t have the shredded physique of what an athlete is supposed to look like, but the [body] parts they need to perform are so finely tuned.”

Wearable technology, meanwhile, gives trainers and medical professionals the ability to evaluate a pro’s wear and tear and injury risk at an increasingly sophisticated, granular level.

Serena Williams, 39, is the oldest active player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

“We have more understanding to measure heart rate variability and strain and stress on the body,” Dr. Michael Zacchilli, an orthopedic surgeon at Northwell Health, told The Post. “We can do that in a pretty precise manner.”

He added that, in decades past, athletes would play through muscle strains — but now they’re more inclined to rest.

They’re also now more focused on nutrition — and less on partying — than in the days of William “The Refrigerator” Perry, John Daly and Dennis Rodman.

“The athletes of the past, they celebrated hard and they celebrated long,” said Grover. “Athletes today, they celebrate hard but not long. They enjoy their cigars and tequila, but they don’t indulge on a regular basis.”

Tom Brady, 43, notched his seventh Super Bowl championship in February, breaking his own record as the oldest player to do so.

And it’s not just the pros who are benefiting from all of this new biometric information. Zacchilli noted how the accessibility of wearables is driving the trend of enduring peak performance in the general population as well.

“The amount of active older adults is increasing drastically. The [finish-line] times at the New York City marathon for older age groups haven’t plateaued yet. They are still going down,” he said.

Dr. Manisha Parulekar, chief of geriatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center, said she was “elated” when she saw Mickelson’s historic victory and plans to use it to evangelize an active lifestyle for her patients.

“What these athletes are telling us is that, if you do the right things earlier on, you have a chance of being healthy, active and independent for a longer period of time.”

doubledragon

I've cut down on reese's peanut butter cups, and I always make sure to steal an apple from wal-mart, so I'm eating a bit healthier.

craig44

interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well. I believe Kareem was around 40 when he retired 35 years ago as well.

there is nothing new under the sun.

coolstanley

Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber, both of whom won majors at age 50.

doubledragon

And Brett Favre was pretty old when he finally called it quits after his 10th retirement.

stevek

@doubledragon said:
Interesting article about athletes performing well at an older age.

Why older athletes like Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady are still winning

The beauty of these regimens is the athlete gets to perform longer at a top level, and doesn't have to worry about contracting cancer or some other terrible disease later on in life which occurs from using drugs, steroids, etc.

The only catch is it takes discipline, lots of discipline to stick to it.

I'm not comparing myself to these top athletes, of course not, but my diet is probably similar to at least some of them. Yes, it's tough at first to give up the urge for say a late night pizza or a pizza anytime for that matter. However it gets easier as time goes on because you get to the point whereby you want to stay with the good habits, and lose the desire to go back to the bad habits, for a multitude of reasons.

doubledragon

I do have to confess, I had a Reese's Sticks for lunch today. They're just so tasty and irresistible, and they put them in the checkout lane so you have no choice but to see them!

AFLfan

@stevek said:
I'm not comparing myself to these top athletes, of course not, but my diet is probably similar to at least some of them. Yes, it's tough at first to give up the urge for say a late night pizza or a pizza anytime for that matter. However it gets easier as time goes on because you get to the point whereby you want to stay with the good habits, and lose the desire to go back to the bad habits, for a multitude of reasons.

I've found it much easier to give up some things completely than to simply try to cut back. Once that stuff is out of your system, the cravings go away pretty quickly.

Tabe

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

Alfonz24

George Blanda. Mainly a kicker, but was the backup QB

Darin

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

That may have been the one i remember. I can pretty distinctly recall him having an argument with the
guy in the high chair and Connors yelling something fairly close to this...............
"I'm out here busting my ass at 40 years old and you're going to screw me on a stupid call like that"
Probably not precisely what he said but that was the gist of it.

But maybe it was a tourney when he actually was 40 or over that I remember........... hell I don't know I'm 56 I don't
know why Connors was making such a big deal about being 40.

coolstanley

Roger Federer turns 40 this summer, and he will be one of the favorites at Wimbledon next month.

Tabe

@Darin said:

That may have been the one i remember. I can pretty distinctly recall him having an argument with the
guy in the high chair and Connors yelling something fairly close to this...............
"I'm out here busting my ass at 40 years old and you're going to screw me on a stupid call like that"
Probably not precisely what he said but that was the gist of it.

But maybe it was a tourney when he actually was 40 or over that I remember........... hell I don't know I'm 56 I don't
know why Connors was making such a big deal about being 40.

That's the one. He also called the umpire "an abortion" during one of his matches in that tournament.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Darin said:

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

That may have been the one i remember. I can pretty distinctly recall him having an argument with the
guy in the high chair and Connors yelling something fairly close to this...............
"I'm out here busting my ass at 40 years old and you're going to screw me on a stupid call like that"
Probably not precisely what he said but that was the gist of it.

But maybe it was a tourney when he actually was 40 or over that I remember........... hell I don't know I'm 56 I don't
know why Connors was making such a big deal about being 40.

Connors lost in either the quarters or semis to unheralded at the time but eventual US Open winner on his way to number one ranked Jim Courier, if memory serves. I think Courier had cracked the top 10 for the first time before that Open began.

ernie11

A minor example: as a Phillies fan, I thought it was neat that Jamie Moyer came up with 16 wins at the age of 45.

orioles93

Nelson Cruz continues to Mash at 40 years old. Dude just keeps on hitting every year.

galaxy27

this guy. father time, golf balls, anything. you can't touch him, cuz he's electric.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45xF1C76I88

coolstanley

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

@Darin said:

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

That may have been the one i remember. I can pretty distinctly recall him having an argument with the
guy in the high chair and Connors yelling something fairly close to this...............
"I'm out here busting my ass at 40 years old and you're going to screw me on a stupid call like that"
Probably not precisely what he said but that was the gist of it.

But maybe it was a tourney when he actually was 40 or over that I remember........... hell I don't know I'm 56 I don't
know why Connors was making such a big deal about being 40.

Connors lost in either the quarters or semis to unheralded at the time but eventual US Open winner on his way to number one ranked Jim Courier, if memory serves. I think Courier had cracked the top 10 for the first time before that Open began.

Courier never won the US Open.

1951WheatiesPremium

@coolstanley said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

@Darin said:

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

@Tabe said:

@craig44 said:
interesting article. I am sure modern workout techniques help play a role, but there have been older athletes for a long time. look at satchell paige and nolan ryan. older hockey players are nothing new. I remember jimmy conners making it deep at the us open at 39 or 40 as well.

Jimmy turned 39 during that US Open.

That may have been the one i remember. I can pretty distinctly recall him having an argument with the
guy in the high chair and Connors yelling something fairly close to this...............
"I'm out here busting my ass at 40 years old and you're going to screw me on a stupid call like that"
Probably not precisely what he said but that was the gist of it.

But maybe it was a tourney when he actually was 40 or over that I remember........... hell I don't know I'm 56 I don't
know why Connors was making such a big deal about being 40.

Connors lost in either the quarters or semis to unheralded at the time but eventual US Open winner on his way to number one ranked Jim Courier, if memory serves. I think Courier had cracked the top 10 for the first time before that Open began.

Courier never won the US Open.

You are right - two French and two Aussie...

“ At the US Open he defeated defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals and then Jimmy Connors in the semifinals, before losing the final to Stefan Edberg.”