What age is the male human athletic prime (in your opinion)?

PG29 red0 Jr said:
Is that because the 18 year old kids are not mentally mature enough or had enough time to train, or because they are not in their physical prime?
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Probably a bit of each at play ,but males in particular are not even done growing at 18.
 
Al Gorithm said:
How many world records are held by 18 year olds?

Somewhere between 24 and 31/32 id say , though as someone mentioned most mortals that are not performing to their absolute peak can stay pretty platued and close to top form into the early 40s. Mid / late 40s and pretty much everyone starts declining pretty noticeably
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Good point about world records. Most in track and field are by people in their mid-20s and into their 30s.

At the same time, in football and basketball, the most outrageously explosive players are in their early-mid 20s. Even by their late 20s they've lost a slight step. So it's kind of hard to tell.

For me, it was between 22-28.
 
Possum Jenkins said:
Good point about world records. Most in track and field are by people in their mid-20s and into their 30s.

At the same time, in football and basketball, the most outrageously explosive players are in their early-mid 20s. Even by their late 20s they've lost a slight step. So it's kind of hard to tell.

For me, it was between 22-28.
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I think in football you've the damage / injury factor that factors into that heavily. The body just can't hold up to that kind of abuse for very long .

My best year was 29 -30 , but felt pretty much the same until about 35 and then could tell I was slightly past it. 38 now and doing all I can to slow it down , wish I'd had the discipline I've got now 10 years ago.

Youth is wasted on the young I suppose.
 
True Alphas are always in their Prime:

 
Alphaboy said:
I ask because I saw a forum member that on the UFC discussion board that said that we go rapidly downhill after 25.

Joe Rogan even said to Yoel Romero "Dude, imagine if you started fighting at 25". (Yoel made his UFC debut at 35, btw).


Guys over 25, do you feel a significant difference now than when you were younger? At what age did you feel a decline?

I just turned 30, to be honest I don't feel much different than my 20s except for a few things... Not shredded as I was before without making any effort. A little less flexible and heal a little slower (I liken it to a rubber band that takes a bit longer to bounce snap back).

However I can pretty much do the same things athletically as before.
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Downhill for me since 28, sharply after 31. I'm stronger now than I've ever been but it takes WAY more work. Recovery is much longer, diet has to be dialed in way more and all that beer I used to be able to drink with impunity? LOL all goes to fat now, super fast.

Reasons learned - decrease drinking, joint supplementation, dialed in diet and gear.
 
Varies person to person. But generally.

Speed, flexibility and agility: early 20s

Raw power: around 30 (some it even seems to increase all the way until nearly 40)

Strength: 35 (this is a weird one because so much is due to how well your joints and body holds up, your muscle begins to decline naturally without exercise at 25, but if you work out often some are at their strongest at 35 or more) Then there is old man strength, which is another weird one. That is probably more due muscle memory though.

Honestly, I'm 34 and the only two things that have notably declined for me is my recovery time (which is only slightly noticeably worse than my 20s) and I gain fat waaay more easily than when I was a human garbage disposal with 10% body fat in my 20s.
 
MaxMMA said:
I think everyone is different but I believe people can stay in good athletic shape well into their 40s as long as they keep pushing their training. I'm 32 and I'm in far better condition then when I was 22.

I'd say the only noticible difference is experiencing certain body pains, which I've managed to all but eliminate with weight training.
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Frode Falch said:
I felt the best at 35. Still feel great at 39. But 35 was amazing for me.
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Now those of you saying you felt better later in life, does that just simply mean you were not in shape when you were younger, or were you in shape but continued to feel great?
 
BB in Crazy!!!! said:
Varies person to person. But generally.

Speed, flexibility and agility: early 20s

Raw power: around 30 (some it even seems to increase all the way until nearly 40)

Strength: 35 (this is a weird one because so much is due to how well your joints and body holds up, your muscle begins to decline naturally without exercise at 25, but if you work out often some are at their strongest at 35 or more) Then there is old man strength, which is another weird one. That is probably more due muscle memory though.

Honestly, I'm 34 and the only two things that have notably declined for me is my recovery time (which is only slightly noticeably worse than my 20s) and I gain fat waaay more easily than when I was a human garbage disposal with 10% body fat in my 20s.
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I think you're right because although muscle mass decreases, old men still seem to put on muscle (not sure if it is just an illusion caused by them having an extra layer of fat though).

Also, I know they say that a boxer's punch is the last thing to go, which is why George Foreman could knock out Michael Moorer at 45 years old!
 
27 still fairly young but experienced and more mature.
 
Depends on the sport/position, really. I would say mid to late 20s is their prime/peak.
 
Alphaboy said:
Now those of you saying you felt better later in life, does that just simply mean you were not in shape when you were younger, or were you in shape but continued to feel great?
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Anyone that claims they are " in the best shape of my life " anywhere close to 40 was just performing so far below their potential while younger that it was easy to improve once they made an effort.
 
Chesten_Hesten said:
True Alphas are always in their Prime:

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The look and zero hesitation on "maybe faster" kills me every time.

Al Gorithm said:
I think in football you've the damage / injury factor that factors into that heavily. The body just can't hold up to that kind of abuse for very long .

My best year was 29 -30 , but felt pretty much the same until about 35 and then could tell I was slightly past it. 38 now and doing all I can to slow it down , wish I'd had the discipline I've got now 10 years ago.

Youth is wasted on the young I suppose.
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Damage is for sure the factor. You really only see the best players being 22-23 in the NFL. Outside the freak superstars, some of the best NBA players weren't even that good until mid to late 20's.

I'm the strongest I've ever been at 29 but I do notice if I binge for even just a few weeks those love handles start expanding. I was in real bad shape around Christmas. Even though I was lifting great numbers, I was dirty bulking and thought this is the begging of the dad bod. Cleaned things up though and have dropped 20 lbs here recently though. So the body still had some great response when treated right.
 
Most sports seem to tell us that the athletic prime runs from something like 26-32, though there is plenty of variation.

For myself, I felt like shit around 30-31 due to back pain, but am in my best ever shape now in my late 30'ies due to a much more structured approach to workouts and life in general. I feel like I have more energy and discipline than I ever did as a young man. It probably helps that I haven't gained a lot of weight like many guys seem to do. I have to admit that I seem to get injured more often now, though. Expecting to stay in great shape for the next decade at least, but some things will likely slowly drop off.
 
Alphaboy said:
Now those of you saying you felt better later in life, does that just simply mean you were not in shape when you were younger, or were you in shape but continued to feel great?
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I would probably been in even better shape if i was as serious about my training in my mid 20s.

I have always been in great shape and hungry for training. But around 30 i started to really serious about my training.
 
For most around 30. This is when our Testosterone starts to drop so our athletic abilities will take a hit also.
 
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