At what age do you stop improving and start declining

This is a donkey shit thread

I think most people can keep getting faster until their late 20's. 26 is usually considered a peak but if you train right tons and tons of people PR at 28-30.

When I turn 35 I will still be in the 100th percentile god willing so why does it matter? If I'm making a living owning noobs above your level why does it matter how much I decline?

I'm 30, almost 31 and in the best shape of my life. Still in shape to chase PRs.....I started running when I was 9 or so meaning that I have a lot of races and miles in my legs and I'm still getting better. You're fine, bro.

23?

Give me a break.

TheRealCici wrote:

I'm 30, almost 31 and in the best shape of my life. Still in shape to chase PRs.....I started running when I was 9 or so meaning that I have a lot of races and miles in my legs and I'm still getting better. You're fine, bro.

You're 6 years past your prime.

That's a excellent question.

I'd like to know the answer as well.

I know for Women's gymnastics and swimming folks tell me that 17 is the peak

age since hormones take over around 18 and the female body changes.

US Marines folks tell me 19 is the peak age, since around 20 the brain

matures, and males become cautious, apprehensive, tentative, and hesitant.

PRed 1500, 5k, 10k at 27. That was the absolute peak. Ran fairly close to those PRs the next two years but never exceeded.

2wenny sev wrote:

PRed 1500, 5k, 10k at 27. That was the absolute peak. Ran fairly close to those PRs the next two years but never exceeded.

This.

Decline in early 30s has more to do with injury risk, injury recovery and training tolerance rather than absolute ability. Speed starts to go away gradually in your late 20s and aerobic function starts to decline very very gradually around 35. The club level 50 plus crit races in cycling are absolutely insane.

For people who stay in shape, the dropoffs don't happen until 55 and again around 70.

Salantonio wrote:

2wenny sev wrote:

PRed 1500, 5k, 10k at 27. That was the absolute peak. Ran fairly close to those PRs the next two years but never exceeded.

This.

Decline in early 30s has more to do with injury risk, injury recovery and training tolerance rather than absolute ability. Speed starts to go away gradually in your late 20s and aerobic function starts to decline very very gradually around 35. The club level 50 plus crit races in cycling are absolutely insane.

For people who stay in shape, the dropoffs don't happen until 55 and again around 70.

Wrong on so many levels. No drop-offs until 55??? And then good till 70?

I knew this guy who used to **jpg** with his dog on a leash all the time. He would go super slow. He was a former D3 all-american who ran in the 14:20s.

I swear he was running in the 14:40s until almost his 50s. Had the ability to get the most out of his body on race day before falling back to 8-minute pace on weekdays. Once told me his secret was running on the grass along the side of the road. It was crazy.

FearTheHobbyJog wrote:

I'm turning 23 next week and maybe it's just a mid 20's crisis but when do you stop getting faster? I am currently in the military and plan on walking on next year at the ripe age of 24..

So I guess what I'm trying to ask is how much of someone's decline in performance is due to lack of motivation and other life responsibilities and not just their age?

I know there are outliers such as Bernard Lagat, Abdi, etc. but does anyone know of somebody that steadily continued to improve into their late 20's?

That's a rather static question.

It depends on when the runner started running, training, nutrition, etc.

Example: Tirunesh Dibaba is a 32 year old female distance runner, and she recently ran a personal best at 10,000m. That was after already being a great distance track runner for a decade, and moving up to the marathon level.

Take Mary Keitany, who is 35, she just recently broke the all women's marathon record. Again, she is 35, and she appears to be getting faster as she gets older.

Now those examples don't reflect the avg pro athlete, or serious local distance runners, but it does showcase that declination does not happen at a specific age or time.

However, if a runner started running seriously at a very young age, competed throughout high school, college, and then turned pro, I would imagine that runner starting to decline in his or her late,late 20s. I am speaking on avg, and I am not saying that would happen to every runner. Plus, when runners decline at one specific distance, they usually move up in distance to continue to evolve as a runner. You become slower in one age group, but become faster in another age group.

Bottom line, everyone declines sooner or later. That is why it is of great import to take care of the body, so that the ability and power of the body is extended for as long as possible.

People decline slowly starting in their late 20s but the drop off is fairly insignificant until about 40 and then the decline starts to ramp up

true story wrote:

I knew this guy who used to **jpg** with his dog on a leash all the time. He would go super slow. He was a former D3 all-american who ran in the 14:20s.

I swear he was running in the 14:40s until almost his 50s. Had the ability to get the most out of his body on race day before falling back to 8-minute pace on weekdays. Once told me his secret was running on the grass along the side of the road. It was crazy.

Crazy?

C'mon man...it sounds made-up. Running 14:20s in D3 (presumably late teens/early 20s) and 30 or so years later, near age 50, he's running sizzling 14:40s?

Are you really falling for that? 🤔

Salantonio wrote:

For people who stay in shape, the dropoffs don't happen until 55 and again around 70.

With or without anti-aging drugs?

As a 60 yo racing since I was 13:

- I peaked around 28 but plateau'd a long time until 33 or 34.

- contrary to expected, I have lots of data proving my endurance started declining ( and went away quicker) than my sprint speed.

- +/- 55 is the cliff.

I ran usually 1500 to marathon, 4min to 2:25. My results showed I peaked at all at the same time.

That's " my endurance started declining earlier"

Stink Test wrote:

true story wrote:

I knew this guy who used to **jpg** with his dog on a leash all the time. He would go super slow. He was a former D3 all-american who ran in the 14:20s.

I swear he was running in the 14:40s until almost his 50s. Had the ability to get the most out of his body on race day before falling back to 8-minute pace on weekdays. Once told me his secret was running on the grass along the side of the road. It was crazy.

Crazy?

C'mon man...it sounds made-up. Running 14:20s in D3 (presumably late teens/early 20s) and 30 or so years later, near age 50, he's running sizzling 14:40s?

Are you really falling for that? 🤔

Pete Magill did it.

Dennis Simonaitis ran 14:47 at age 48

Sean Wade at 50: 15:02

So his story is not even close to being crazy.....Bernard Legat might destroy all of those times as he gets older, at the age of 42 he ran 13:39 - THAT IS CRAZY AS HELL.

Noggin the Nog wrote:

That's " my endurance started declining earlier"

curious, what times are running now?