Long Term Impact of Exercise?

From the most recent edition of the journal of exercise physiology, a report that asks the following question: does participation in high level sports negatively impact your health in later years? In a straightforward study, the authors sent out questionnaires to "normal" and varsity athlete alumni of the University of Alabama, asking them a number of questions regarding injuries past and present, whether said injuries were chronic or acute, and the degree to which these injuries affected their lives. While varsity athletes suffered injuries at an alarming rate (approximately 50% by the studies measure), varsity athletes had chronic injuries that affected both their sport and nonsport lives at a rate roughly 5 to 6 times the rate of nonathletes.

Superficially, these results might suggest involvement in college sports carry severe health risks for later in life. Not necessarily! Interestingly, though it's not reported prominently in the study, varsity athletes from college participate in aerobic exercise an average of 3 times more (measured in hours per week) than non-varsity athletes. As the average age of respondents was between 40 and 41, two interesting observations emerge: First, athletes at a young age are more likely to maintain aerobic exercise habits long after their playing days are over. Second, these "former" athletes accomplish this despite an increase in virtually all sorts of injuries compared to their classmates. This is an interesting counterpoint to the risks of active involvement in sports later in life, one that the authors may not fully consider.