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Older adults often hear advice to take it easy — that our bodies are more fragile, not what they used to be.
And there are plenty of good reasons behind it: Older adults have more difficulty with balance, are more prone to arthritic conditions, bruise more easily and have lower muscle mass so have fewer stores for water.
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But what about those of us who love a good contact sport? Basketball, hockey, soccer! Is it time to accept a life of just yoga and walking?
Not necessarily, says Nicholas R. Beatty, D.O., physiatrist with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.
“The benefits — the joy and satisfaction, the physical and mental health benefits, the social component — often outweigh the risks that may be inherent in those activities,” Beatty says.
![soccer is good your your health and brain two men playing soccer](https://aarp.widen.net/content/u6uteh0k3p/png/GettyImages-1046308968-edit.png?crop=true&anchor=0,0&color=ffffffff&u=1javjt&w=1140&h=655)
And while engaging in any sport is good for the brain, “playing sports that are unpredictable and not repetitive, such as soccer, where your brain has to think and react, is especially good for your brain,” says sports nutritionist and exercise physiologist Heidi Skolnik, coauthor of the best-selling book The Whole Body Reset.
But, Beatty says, as an older adult you do need to proceed with some caution and reason. Here’s how to play the contact sports you love and stay safe doing so.
Focus on the before and after
To maintain and improve your strength, endurance and recovery and to avoid injuries, it’s important to be mindful — a bit more mindful than you were at 18 — of how you are caring for and preparing your body when you’re not on the field or the court playing your favorite sport, says Beatty, adding that it takes just “a little planning and self-monitoring.”
Dynamic warm-up. Years ago, you might have prepped for sports practice by standing around and doing a few static stretches. Today, before heading into the fray, athletes are doing what Beatty calls “movement prep” — calisthenics, jumping jacks, skips, hops, bounds — to prime the body for exercise.
Recent studies have shown that these types of movements, regardless of your age, can help reduce injury risk. Toward the end of your dynamic warm-up, you can do more sports-specific motions, something that mirrors your sport. “If you’ll be doing a lot of rotational movement, try a walking lunge with a twist in your upper body,” Beatty says.
Recovery activity. Want to collapse on the couch for a victory nap after eking out a win? Not a great idea, says Beatty. Immediately after participating in a sport, cool down with a light jog and do some static stretches. These differ from pregame dynamic warm-up stretches in that you hold a pose longer. Yoga is a good example.
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