How fast do people slow down as they get older?
How fast do we age? Exercise performance over time as a biomarker.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at how fast older athletes get slower in sports like running, rowing, and swimming. They wanted to see how the body changes with age when people stay very fit.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at how fast older athletes get slower in sports like running, rowing, and swimming. They wanted to see how the body changes with age when people stay very fit.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
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Claims (4)
If you're a top athlete over 35, your performance tends to drop by about half a percent each year — and this slow decline might be due to how our bodies naturally age, no matter the sport.
When top athletes get older, their performance drops at about the same rate in running, rowing, and swimming — which suggests their body systems all slow down together, not one faster than the rest.
After age 35, people get slightly worse at endurance sports each year—and that slowdown matches how much their lung and heart fitness drops. This suggests that losing aerobic fitness might be a big reason why endurance fades with age.
Your body's VO2 levels are the best way to measure how well you're performing during exercise.