Senior sport

Senior athletes

Seniorensport or Old Sport called sports that are offered for the elderly or exercised by them.

Age

From a scientific point of view, sport for seniors begins at the age of 30. From then on, there is a continuous decline in motor skills. This particularly applies to a breakdown of the muscles , which without countermeasures leads to a loss of performance; Strength , speed , endurance , coordination and flexibility decrease. In addition, there are changes in sensory perception that can also impair athletic processes. At the same time, due to genetic requirements and personal lifestyle, the body fat percentage increases . One of the few means to slow down these processes is sporty anti-aging training, which is still useful even at an older age of more than 70 years.

Specific sports offers

Senior sport promotes health and, as psychological side effects, also causes better personal well-being, increased self-esteem and also trains willpower. There is also a social component through contact with like-minded people. According to researchers, a combination of physical and mental activity , such as line dancing with alternating steps, has more positive effects on the brain and balance than regular sports like walking, swimming and cycling on the exercise bike.

Some sports clubs have set up their own senior sports departments, which specifically encourage this age group to do sports together and sometimes take part in competitions. Also gym with qualified instructors offer seniors sport on prevention or rehabilitation may target. Preferred sports are swimming , ( water ) gymnastics , cycling , mountain hiking , jogging , Nordic walking and dance sports . In senior sports, too, a distinction is made between performance classes. The offers for newcomers and former competitive athletes can vary considerably.

In addition, there are fitness and training offers at adult education centers as well as courses in cooperation with health insurance companies for health prevention. So-called senior play areas or multi-generation activity areas are increasingly being set up for spontaneous activity, also in the sense of keeping fit . In commercial amusement parks or swimming pools (including thermal and exercise pools ) there are also sports and fitness facilities for older people.

Competitions

Many sports federations offer for seniors own competitions or (often in five-year increments) staggered by age competition classes within normal competitions to. These are often referred to as “Masters” competitions in order to avoid the negative connotation of “Seniors”.

Senior sports are part of the Olympic movement as part of the “Sports for all” concept .

Mostly every two years there are senior world championships in various sports. The International Masters Games Association organizes the World Masters Games every four years .

World Masters Championships for individual disciplines

• athletics
• Pool

Related topics

• Age and performance classes (sport)
• Charles Eugster , British-Swiss senior athlete

Individual evidence

1. ↑ focus.de
2. ↑ lsb-berlin.net ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Researcher: Dancing for seniors is even better than fitness sport. In: Focus. October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017 .