[Kevin Varley]

Kevin Varley  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Hello Dr. Chris
 
As we get older we can not achieve the level of 'fitness' that we could when we were younger. Example professional footballers typically retire before 40 years of age. Can you explain......
 
1. What is fitness?

2. Why does the level of (potential) fitness decrease with age?
 
3. How do we know wether our fitness is decreasing because we are not exercising sufficiently, or because of incresing age?
 
Regards
 
Kevin Varley
Malaysia

What do you think?

[Mr. Scientist]

The body cannot sustain itself forever, including essential body parts.

Deteriate electrons in the skin surface alone causes ageing. What do we do when we breath in what we think is clean air? What do we do in any criteria which does our body no good, in every environment? Even the use of energy deteriates the body due to those free-radicals which perminently disfigure the cells of the human body.


We age and the body follows. Fittness is a measure of age, and if you are very healthy at a very old age, then that make many additives to the age-potential of that human being.

[carl89]

Because every living organism has a lifespan. There is an age of each organ which we have, so with the passage of time we get old, and our stamina and fitness get down.