Sport and longevity: an observational study of international athletes

Abstract

The human lifespan is influenced by various factors, with physical activity being a significant contributor. Despite the clear benefit of exercise on health and longevity, the association between different types of sports and lifespan is yet to be considered. Accordingly, we aimed to study this association in a large international cohort of former athletes using a robust linear regression model. We collected data on athletes from public sources, accumulating a total of 95,210 observations, 95.5% of which were accounted for by males. The dataset represented athletes born between 1862 and 2002 from 183 countries across 44 sports disciplines. We calculated the change in lifespan by measuring the difference in age between athletes and the corresponding reference populations, while accounting for variations caused by sex, year of death, and country. The results revealed that various sports impacted lifespan differently, with male athletes being more likely to experience benefits from sports than female athletes. Among male athletes, pole vaulting and gymnastics were linked to the highest extension in lifespan (8.4 years, 95% CI [6.8, 9.9] and 8.2 years, 95% CI [7.4, 9], respectively), while volleyball and sumo wrestling were the most negatively associated with lifespan (− 5.4 years, 95% CI [− 7, − 3.8]; − 9.8 years, 95% CI [− 11, − 8.6], respectively). The association between lifespan and popular team sports in males was positive for cricket, rowing, baseball, water polo, Australian rules, hurling, lacrosse, field hockey, minimal for rugby, canoeing and kayaking, basketball, gridiron football, and football (soccer), and negative for handball and volleyball. Racquet sports (i.e., tennis and badminton) exhibited a consistent and positive association in both male and female athletes, as shown by an extended lifespan of up to 5.7 years in males (95% CI [5, 6.5]) and 2.8 years in females (95% CI [1.8, 3.9]). Although lacking conclusive evidence, we theorize that the observed results may be attributed to the aerobic and anaerobic characteristics of each sport, with mixed sports yielding the maximum benefits for the lifespan. While results from female athletes should be cautiously interpreted, our study highlights the complex interplay between sports and lifespan and contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the multifaceted relationship between physical activity and human longevity.

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Results for weightlifting are 1.3[0.3, 2.2] with 95% CI in years. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised as with all that MTOR stimulation I was expecting that the lifespan impact will be more like Sumo’s [-9.8 -11, -8.8]. Compare both to targeting sports 6.2 [5.5 6.9], which is one of the top performing sports (#4) for the lifespan extension.

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Association between various sports and changes in lifespan (age Δ) in male athletes. Coefficient values represent the average change in lifespan in years compared with the reference male populations. Percentage was calculated based on the total number of male athletes. Adjusted R-squared = 0.06216. n.s. indicates statistically non-significant results

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I remember a study done years ago. Maybe even 30 years ago. It simply recorded the lifespans of deceased elite sportspeople. I remember that the greatest average LS was for cross-country skiers (“Nordic skiing”).

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My comments (FWIW)…

Pole vaulting? How many elite pole vaulters did the study follow? How many have died and at what age? I’d suggest “n” would be rather small.

Sumo? Considering they would be almost all Japanese (arguably the longest-lived ethnic group), it just goes to show the damage that pigging yourself with food for decades does to the human body. MTOR permanently activated and buckets of fat pumping out bad cytokines as well.

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Gymnastics at least is selected for short stature and possibly caloric restriction.

This is Fan Yilin’s diet, when competing in the Olympics for China, breakfast and lunch.

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I don’t see much logic behind the numbers, aside of course for sumo, martial arts and a few other disciplines.
When a logic framework is missing, then my logical mind always suggests possible errors, biases, and confounding factors; much of the analysis may be compromised.
If anyone has different interpretations, pls elucidate.

Let’s analyze pole vaulting first. I actually don’t think its impressive life extension benefits are coincidental and provides very good insights on how to train for longevity. As a side note, it is a sport supposedly as dangerous as American football. Pole vaulting requires a combination of strength and agility where all parts of body - legs and upper body such as arms, and shoulders get equal emphasis during training. As a result pole vaulters bodies are lean and strong but not too mascular. See the training routine here

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OK, I see the point, pole vaulting has also some similarities to gymnastics. The lowish n value of pole vaulting provides a wider CI but not overly wide.
Fencing and above all targeting sports? I cannot imagine reasons for higher longevity.

In my mind, targeting sports, e.g. rifle, pistol, and shotgun shooting, lifespan extension benefit is not a coincidence either. The interesting part is that this study suggests that a mildly physical hobby can be superior for lifespan extension to weightlifting. I think of targeting sports as a type of a hobby that you can do at any age and continue even after you retire from competition. (Average age of participants is 51 year old and the profile can be found https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/whats-the-average-age-of-an-ata-shooter.249226/ ) It gives participant purpose while exercising his/her body and mind a bit as he/she needs to coordinate both to shoot target.

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Looks like Ingemar Stenmark, 68, swedish former skiing champion, is some steps ahead of this observational study:

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