Can A Driver In Their 40s Win A Formula 1 Championship?
Recently, a reporter for The Times asked Tommy (aka “Dr. Wood”) to share his thoughts on whether or not a driver could win a Formula 1 championship in his 40s (one of the hats Tommy wears is as a mental performance coach for Formula 1 drivers, making him the ideal sort of person to field such a question).
The assumption implied in that question is that, at some point, age-related declines in mental and physical performance would preclude such a feat.
Yet, in recent years, our assumptions about those age-related declines have been challenged by a growing number of athletes. Athletes like Tom Brady, Lebron James, Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Athletes who would’ve been previously considered “past their prime” that not only continued to play at a professional level, but in some cases dominated their sport like never before.
So, what are we to make of this? What did we get wrong about what happens to brains and bodies with age? What are we still getting wrong?
What has enabled so many to defy what were once thought to be inviolate boundaries of biology?
And what can the rest of us learn from them?
Those were some of the questions we explored in this latest episode of The Better Brain Fitness Podcast.
Other questions we address in the episode include:
How does aging affect reaction time and processing speed?
How do specific training strategies vary for athletes as they age?
How does caffeine affect complex skills function in athletes?
How does vitamin D status impact athletic performance and injury risk?
It’s a great topic, and one we’ll surely revisit in future episodes.
Have a Question? Ask us!
Do you have a question around this topic or on the topic of brain health and fitness that you’d like us to answer on the podcast? If so, click here to submit it.
Yours,
The Better Brain Docs
(Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood)
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