Brett Favre inspires older exercisers

Photo source: Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons

Brett Favre, the 40 year-old Minnesota Vikings quarterback, has made recent headlines for his stunning success on the football field. But Favre and many other athletes are also making waves by staying not only fit, but competitive over the age of 40. Olympian Dara Torres, a 41 year-old mother, swam her way into history with mutiple medal wins in Beijing. Nolan Ryan, Lance Armstrong, Martina Navratilova and Jack Nicklaus are other examples of older athletes who have maintained a competitive edge well beyond a typical pro sports retirement age. These athletes have stayed competitive not necessarily by exercising more but by exercising smarter. After the Beijing Olympic Games, Torres credited her long stretching sessions for keeping her muscles agile in the pool. In 2006, when Favre was in his late 30′s he told The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel that his workouts don’t include typical football drills such as sprints or track work.

“He works with medicine balls, bungee ropes and different kinds of weights to build up his strength and endurance. Instead of countless stomach crunches, he two-hands a medicine ball against a wall, making sure his form is proper and his feet and legs are involved.”

Athletes like Favre and Torres have access to trainers and staff that stay on the cutting edge of exercise science. But anyone can take advantage of current research. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon, wrote Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age. Wright works with both aging athletes and sedentary adults. She wrote the book to offer advice for those who want to get in shape and stay healthy at every stage in their lives. In an interview with USA Today, Wright explains the FACE acronym that she developed for exercisers over 40:

• Flexibility- stretch for 15 minutes a day
• Aerobics- 30 minutes a day at least three to five times a week
• Carrying a Load-Strength train three times a week
• Equilibrium-Do balance exercises every day

Wright suggests that the most common mistake made by older exercisers is doing too much too soon. During the Beijing Olympics she saw a surge of weekend warriors “who hadn’t exercised in a while or who had been exercising but took it to the next level too rapidly”. She cautions exercisers to “modify, modify modify” rather than give up their favorite sports. She acknowledges that there are almost always ways to adjust a training plan so that athletes can continue to participate in their sport.

When asked about the special qualities of elite aging athletes, Wright says that they have “incredible mental fortitude. They will tell you that the best years of their lives are the second 40 or 50. They can’t wait to get up in the morning.”

Read more about starting an exercise program in middle age:

• Benefits of starting an exercise program in middle age
• Starting an exercise program in middle age: Aerobic activity
• Starting an exercise program in middle age: Strength training
• Starting an exercise program in middle age: Flexibility training
• Starting an exercise program in middle age: Balance training