Is Aging an Injury?

Dr. Phil Maffetone

All humans are born athletes. Some express it and live it, while others blossom later in life. Yet, interestingly, we all age similarly—though some do it much better than others. In a real sense, everyone is an aging athlete. 

Society often puts athletes on a pedestal, assuming that high fitness equals great health. This is untrue. Being an athlete today mistakenly means running 100-mile weeks or climbing Mt. Everest, yet both health and fitness can be built just by walking. Being a functioning human means using our athletic bodies and brains wisely to adapt mentally, expand creatively, and keep moving. Done well, this helps us avoid injury and age gracefully.

Why We Age

While our genetic programming influences our lifespan, the progressive accumulation of body-wide cellular damage leading to dysfunction is what we call aging. Both aging and injury trigger overlapping physiological damage-response and inflammatory mechanisms.

From competitive athletes to sedentary individuals, premature aging is accelerated by poor diet, improper physical movement (too much or too little), cumulative stress, and reduced brain function. These factors result in damaging effects classified as both aging and injury.

Chronological vs. Physiological Aging

While chronological aging is inevitable, physical deterioration is strongly influenced by lifestyle. We really have two different ages:

• Chronological age: How old we are in years.
• Physiological age: How well our brain and body function.

Those with better health, fitness, and fewer risk factors for illness are physiologically younger than those who are the same chronological age but less healthy. In a way, it is possible to turn back time. As Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Satchel Paige said: “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”

Average vs. Superagers

Modern society often encourages us to be average. Consequently, average humans age faster and are injured more often. Instead, we should aim to be “superagers”—individuals in their 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond who possess the mental and physical capabilities of someone much younger. The brain, in particular, can repair itself regularly to maintain and improve function despite the passage of time.

Trauma and Exercise

Pain-related injuries and sudden cardiac events occur in competitive athletes at rates not dissimilar to the general public. Exercise can also cause undue trauma if performed incorrectly. As trauma surgeon Dr. Catherine Dudick notes, “From your body’s perspective, a proper workout enhances health and performance; but done poorly, it’s nothing more than scheduled trauma.” Most of these exercise-induced injuries are due to macro- and micro-trauma, and they are highly preventable.

Aging as a Disease

For a long time, many scientists have pushed to classify aging as a disease in order to accelerate research funding. Unfortunately, classifying aging as a disease could actually accelerate aging through psychological phenomena. It could foster stress, fatalistic mindsets, and widespread ageism—which science shows can physically damage cells and shorten lifespans. Intense scientific debate over this classification still continues within the World Health Organization.

Masters of the Sport

The global athletic community recognizes great agers. Healthy runners often continue improving well into master’s levels (defined as 40 years and over). In fact, masters runners represent over 50% of marathon finishers, and many continue to run their best times in long-distance events.

However, the general athletic population has paradoxically been getting slower for decades: The average 5K (3.1 miles) running race time has slowed by about 20% in the last decade to around 40 minutes. But consider: 

• Well-trained 40-year-old men and women average about 21 and 24 minutes in a 5K, respectively.
• World records in the 5K for 40-year-olds sit at about 13 minutes for males and 15 minutes for females.

“The sustained excellence of these athletes is not just due to talent or grit—it’s biology in action,” says Dr. Fiddy Davis, Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Hope College. “Humans are built to adapt—with the right strategies, you can sustain excellence at any stage of life.”

Yet, many modern humans are only living longer because medical technology can replace failed hearts, kidneys, and joints. We deserve a higher quality of life than just waiting for disease to appear. If aging is an injury, let’s treat it. Not with pills, potions, or chasing the latest hype. Don't follow the herd—it's heading for the cliff.

Five Key Remedies

Aging better comes down to eating nutrient-dense whole foods, while avoiding junk, moderating stress, and staying active. The table below outlines five common problems associated with faster aging and actionable ways to improve your physiological age. 

Healthy aging gives you the advantage of being physiologically younger than your peers, allowing maximum human potential at any stage of life. As masters of our own health, we have the power to influence the pace and quality of our lives—and there is no better time to start than now.

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