The Game of LIFE

Sweet... I get to be a professional athlete! This was one of my favorite careers... and, as it turns out, real life athletes live longer than their sedentary counterparts. However, the added years are not evenly distrusted among all athletes. So, the question becomes, should you want to become a professional boxer, basketball player, or ultra runner? Researchers studied the differences between power athletes, endurance athletes, and those participating in team sports. Endurance athletes lived the longest (5.7 years longer than "non-athletes"), team athletes were next (4 years longer), and power athletes enjoyed the fewest number of added years (1.6 years). This may be the result of a lower VO2 max, as previous studies have shown correlations between longevity and this metric. Or, it could result from the fact that people are able to continue participating in endurance sports for longer due to the higher "career-ending" injury rate associated with the other two categories. In fact, studies have shown that professional soccer players in England are 10 times more likely to develop arthritis compared to the general public. Traumatic brain injury is also a major problem among some "winter sport athletes" (skiers, snowboarders, lugers, and skeletoners), boxers, football players, etc.