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It\u2019s tempting to roll your eyes when you hear people marvel about the fact that a professional athlete is still performing at a high level in their mid-30s and beyond. After all, there are plenty of older adults out there crushing PRs and breaking athletic world records<\/a>. <\/p>\n Now, new research published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle<\/a> finds that there is a certain age when fitness levels start to peak\u2014but there are also some very effective things you can do to extend your fitness longevity. <\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re training to crush your age group in an upcoming 5k or just want reassurance that your hard work at the gym really is paying off in the longevity realm, here\u2019s what doctors want you to know. <\/p>\n Meet the experts<\/strong>: Maria Westerst\u00e5hl, PhD,<\/a> lecturer at the Karolinska Institutet-Stockholm Department of Laboratory Medicine and lead author of the study; Shane Davis, MD<\/a>, non-operative sports medicine physician at Tufts Medical Center; Brad Wilkins, PhD<\/a>, assistant professor of human physiology and Director of the Oregon Performance Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon<\/p>\n What did the study find?<\/strong><\/p>\n For the study, researchers from Sweden\u2019s Karolinska Institutet followed 427 people from ages 16 to 63. During the nearly 50-year study period, the participants were asked to participate in a range of fitness and strength tests, like their vertical jump ability (which is often used to measure muscle strength) and moves that track their aerobic capacity.<\/p>\n After crunching the data, the researchers discovered that physical ability starts to decline as early as age 35. From ages 35 to 63, the drop in physical capacity dropped from 30 percent to 48 percent. <\/p>\n But there\u2019s a huge caveat here to keep in mind: People who stayed physically active had a much slower decline than those who weren\u2019t as athletic. <\/p>\n What does \u2018decline\u2019 even mean here?<\/strong><\/p>\n The word \u201cdecline\u201d doesn\u2019t sound fun when we\u2019re talking about your fitness, but it\u2019s not as tragic as it seems, according to Maria Westerst\u00e5hl, PhD,<\/a> lecturer at the Karolinska Institutet-Stockholm Department of Laboratory Medicine and lead author of the study. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter peak capacity is reached, the decline is very slow at first, with approximately a 0.5 percent decrease per year,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, this decrease accelerates with age, and by age 60, we lose more than 2 percent of our capacity each year.\u201d<\/p>\n That may mean you can\u2019t run as fast as you once did with the same amount of training, you can\u2019t jump over a puddle as easily as you used to, or it feels harder to lift and carry some objects around, Westerst\u00e5hl says. <\/p>\n \u201cThe stronger you are before the decline sets in and the more you exercise afterward, the later\u2014if ever\u2014this restriction to your independent life will occur,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Tom Werner\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Why performance starts to drop after 35<\/strong><\/p>\n There are a few potential reasons for this. \u201cOne of the biggest things is that your muscles start to waste away, especially if they\u2019re not used,\u201d says Brad Wilkins, PhD<\/a>, assistant professor of human physiology and Director of the Oregon Performance Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon. <\/p>\n As you lose muscle mass, it can impact your strength and endurance, points out Shane Davis, MD<\/a>, non-operative sports medicine physician at Tufts Medical Center.<\/p>\n There also seems to be an \u201cinherent biological aging process\u201d that impacts signaling between your nerves and muscles, Westerst\u00e5hl says. That can slow you down over time, she explains.<\/p>\n How to keep up your fitness performance<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s really important to stress this: Your fitness isn\u2019t doomed to fall off a cliff after age 35. \u201cThe height of your fitness peak and how fast you come up and go down does seem to be changeable,\u201d Wilkins says. <\/p>\n While consistent training<\/a> is important, Wilkins says you can actually improve or maintain your fitness as you age by tweaking things as you go. \u201cWe get wiser with age, and our training may be able to be optimized for the responses we want as we get older,\u201d he says. \u201cYour decision-making may also get better. You might be rising in a lot of different performance aspects, like better nutrition<\/a> and sleep<\/a>. That may mean your performance won\u2019t decline as much as you\u2019d think.\u201d <\/p>\n Learn To Lift Series<\/p>\n Westerst\u00e5hl agrees. \u201cThose who were physically active\u2014either from before or by becoming active later in life\u2014had a capacity 5 to 10 percent higher compared to those who were not physically active.\u201d Being physically active can help you perform the same as someone up to five years younger than you, she adds. <\/p>\n![\"determined](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/determined-female-athlete-working-out-on-gymnastic-royalty-free-image-1767988833.pjpeg.jpeg\" "\\"Determined")
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