1
00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:07,280
Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

2
00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,720
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here you might hear it. In the gym,

3
00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,400
Speaker 1: a burly weightlifter mutters that they could bench three of

4
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,919
Speaker 1: the guys on the treadmills. A guy on a treadmill

5
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 1: snickers that the weightlifter could never catch him. A soccer

6
00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,320
Speaker 1: player says that thinking on your feed and anticipating where

7
00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,360
Speaker 1: the ball will go takes much more skill than just

8
00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,560
Speaker 1: doing the same thing over and over, and that she's

9
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,480
Speaker 1: the most agile person in the room. Athletics demands self discipline,

10
00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,720
Speaker 1: and each sport develops different skills and strengths and the

11
00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,960
Speaker 1: people who play them, And of course getting some kind

12
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,280
Speaker 1: of exercise is important for our health. But are all

13
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,519
Speaker 1: sports created equal when it comes to health benefits? And

14
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,600
Speaker 1: are some sports better at keeping the grim reaper at bay?

15
00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,239
Speaker 1: One of the most significant scientific studies focused on this

16
00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,160
Speaker 1: question came out of Scandinavia back in the nineteen nineties.

17
00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,800
Speaker 1: Researchers divided two thousand, six hundred and thirteen male finish

18
00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,000
Speaker 1: elite athletes in three groups. Endurance athletes like long distance

19
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,440
Speaker 1: runners and cross country skiers, Power athletes like boxers, wrestlers,

20
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,840
Speaker 1: and weightlifters, and then a mixed group of sprinters and

21
00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,880
Speaker 1: team athletes like soccer, ice hockey, or basketball players. The

22
00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,440
Speaker 1: researchers then compared those athletes to oney seven hundred and

23
00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,639
Speaker 1: twelve finished men who were not competitive athletes. The power

24
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,480
Speaker 1: athletes group lived an average of one point six years

25
00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,160
Speaker 1: longer than the non athletes. Team athletes lived four years longer,

26
00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,920
Speaker 1: and endurance athletes lived five point seven years longer. Let's

27
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,360
Speaker 1: consider what sets endurance sports apart. In another study, researchers

28
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,319
Speaker 1: looked at lifespan and VO two max, which is the

29
00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:45,960
Speaker 1: maximum volume of oxygen that your body can take in

30
00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,360
Speaker 1: during exercise. Sports requiring a high VO two max make

31
00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,520
Speaker 1: you breed the hardest, such as running or biking, as

32
00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: your body tries to get precious oxygen to your muscles.

33
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,280
Speaker 1: The study showed that elite athletes had a lower chance

34
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,960
Speaker 1: of dying at a given age the non athletes, but

35
00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,040
Speaker 1: how much lower depended on their VO two max. Indurance

36
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,799
Speaker 1: athletes had a forty three percent lower chance of dying

37
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 1: at a given age than non athletes. Team athletes had

38
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,960
Speaker 1: thirty three percent less risk, while power athletes whose sports

39
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 1: don't require a high VO two max only had ten

40
00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,600
Speaker 1: percent less risk than non athletes. These studies don't cover

41
00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,360
Speaker 1: every angle, though. The scientists gathered information about the cause

42
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,120
Speaker 1: of death and age of each participant, but they didn't

43
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,480
Speaker 1: consider what the participants had done after they stopped competing

44
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,880
Speaker 1: in sports. Competitive athletes are generally young. The average age

45
00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,959
Speaker 1: of NFL players is just twenty seven. Studies have shown

46
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,840
Speaker 1: that staying active throughout your entire life is a very

47
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,240
Speaker 1: big deal when it comes to your health. So the

48
00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,040
Speaker 1: Dungeons and Dragons nerd who takes up running after college

49
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: and keeps at it will probably live longer than the

50
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,080
Speaker 1: high school football hero who hangs up his cleets and

51
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,200
Speaker 1: hits the recliner once his glory days are over. Not

52
00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,920
Speaker 1: that all D and D nerds are out of shape,

53
00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,520
Speaker 1: saying and don't count team sports and resistance training out either.

54
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,240
Speaker 1: They may not boost longevity quite as much as endurance sports,

55
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,920
Speaker 1: but they are an important part of the picture. Team

56
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,000
Speaker 1: sports can teach us about discipline, camaraderie, and sportsmanship. Resistance

57
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,160
Speaker 1: training helps reduce injuries and the muscle wasting that can

58
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,000
Speaker 1: happen with aging, which reduces strength, coordination, and quality of life.

59
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,760
Speaker 1: During a person's golden years. Resistance training also strengthens bones

60
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,200
Speaker 1: for a healthy life. Varying your workout will help keep

61
00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,079
Speaker 1: you from getting bored and let you tap into the

62
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,200
Speaker 1: unique benefits of different types of exercise. However, some sports

63
00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,720
Speaker 1: can actually present a threat to longevity. A sports injuries

64
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,960
Speaker 1: can require major treatment and lead to lifelong pain for

65
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,320
Speaker 1: some athletes. For example, repetitive motion injuries are a serious

66
00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,600
Speaker 1: risk in some sports and can have life changing consequences.

67
00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 1: The scientists in England found that professional soccer players are

68
00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,160
Speaker 1: ten times more likely to develop arthritis in the hip

69
00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,200
Speaker 1: than the general public. Surprisingly, most of the players who

70
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 1: developed arthritis didn't realize that they were injuring their hips.

71
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,880
Speaker 1: The arthritis was caused by repetitive motion. Many professional soccer

72
00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,240
Speaker 1: players require total hip replacements in their thirties or forties,

73
00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,880
Speaker 1: which is much younger than most hyperplacement patients in the

74
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,680
Speaker 1: general population, which covers around the age of sixty five.

75
00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,400
Speaker 1: Another significant danger in some sports is traumatic brain injury,

76
00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,640
Speaker 1: which can be disabling or even life threatening, even if

77
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,160
Speaker 1: the person is wearing a helmet. Even mild concussions can

78
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,839
Speaker 1: cause memory problems, confusion, depression, and personality changes. And medical

79
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,839
Speaker 1: experts still don't know the long term effects of repeated

80
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,599
Speaker 1: mild concussions. The college football players with the history of

81
00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,480
Speaker 1: three or more concussions are three times more likely to

82
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,560
Speaker 1: experience another concussion than their teammates, so repeated concussions are

83
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,919
Speaker 1: a concern for football players. Besides injuries, some athletes do

84
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,600
Speaker 1: things to their bodies that can cause more harm than good,

85
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,000
Speaker 1: such as using performance enhancing drugs or trying to gain

86
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,960
Speaker 1: their weight upper don too quickly or too much. All

87
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: sports have their own benefits and risks. It's important to

88
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,840
Speaker 1: play safely, try cross training, and reap the benefits of

89
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,680
Speaker 1: different kinds of exercise. If old injuries limit your options,

90
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,440
Speaker 1: take up a low impact sport like swimming or biking.

91
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,359
Speaker 1: The key is to make exercise a regular part of

92
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:28,680
Speaker 1: your life, all of it for a longer and healthier one.

93
00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,839
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Which Athletes lived

94
00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 1: Longest on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Melissa Sandoval.

95
00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,640
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with

96
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,039
Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

97
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,640
Speaker 1: Four more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

98
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,520
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,