What are Lifetime Sports?
Isabella Cannon
| 2 min read
Lifetime sports are those you can play for your whole life at any age. Regular exercise is important for people of all ages and has been shown to reduce and prevent many health conditions.
Lack of physical activity can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses, according to the National Institute on Aging.
What sports are lifetime sports?
Almost any sport can be a lifetime sport for the right person. However, if you're starting a little later in life, some sports might be too risky. “Lifetime" status is less likely in contact and high-impact sports because there is a higher risk of long-term injuries.
Some of the most common lifetime sports include:
- Tennis
- Golf
- Pickleball
- Swimming
- Track
- Yoga
How do people choose their lifetime sport?
Activities such as walking, yoga, and water aerobics are popular lifetime sports because they are customizable, easy on the joints, low risk, and require little to no equipment making them sustainable choices.
Muscle memory developed by playing sports at a young age can carry over to be a great activity to keep up as you get older. Other low risk-activities you can participate in at any age include:
- Dancing
- Bowling
- Bicycling
- Ice skating
- Skiing
- Snowshoeing
- Sailing
- Disc golf
- Martial arts or Tai Chi
The benefits of lifetime sports
According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise has been shown to slow the body’s natural decline from 1-2% to about half a percent every year. Researchers have found sedentary people lose about 70% of their functional ability by age 90. Those who exercise regularly lose only 30% of their functional ability by the same age.
Exercise can benefit a wide range of areas of your life. Staying active can help you:
- Keep your strength and stay independent
- Reduce fatigue
- Improve your balance
- Manage and prevent diseases like arthritis and heart disease
- Improve sleep
- Reduce levels of stress
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Reduce feelings of depression
Recommendation
For adults aged 65 and older, the United States Center for Disease and Control (CDC) recommends 20 minutes of moderate physical activity every day and 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week. Ideally, you also should do some strength training like yoga, gardening, or lifting weights, at least twice a week, in addition to exercises that improve balance.
Image: Getty Images
