Is it too late to begin training for the olympics at 30?

Question

I have led a fairly sedentary life, but watching the olympics and turning 30 this year has motivated me to change. Is it a pipe dream to expect every having a competing chance in sports when just starting out at 30?

Answer 1

I absolutely hate not being able to give encouragement.  However, I am also a realist.  While I can appreciate the motivation you have acquired from watching these amazing(!) athletes, you absolutely have to realize that every single one of them (even the ones who are shooting) have been at their sport for most of their lives and some almost since they started walking.  From what I understand, these people have basically given-up what for us is a "normal" life in the pursuit of their particular sport.  Oh, and I'm not even bringing up the unbelievable costs involved in their pursuit.  (I actually work-out at a gym here in Houston where some of our Olympic gymnasts train and work out, and this morning I overheard someone who knows some of these people mention that their parents had paid their trainers upwards of $200,000 to get them ready for the Olympics.)  I really don't want to deflate your bubble, but I did think I needed to bring a dose of reality into the vision you now have for yourself.   However, having said all of that, here is what I think:  Now that you have this wonderful motivation, and it IS wonderful, you need to take advantage of that motivation while it is still there and start NOW on your new path of becoming the very best you that you can possibly be.  Start taking those steps forward in the area of nutrition and fitness, and I would even encourage you to enlist the help of people knowledgeable in these areas (a nutritionist and a trainer) to help you get on the right path, and to also provide encouragement and motivation when that motivation you now have begins to fade, and as much as I would love to believe that you can keep that motivation going forever and ever amen, I just don't think that happens to us "mere mortals" here in the real world.  What I have found out in my own quest to better myself is one simple fact:  You can't do it yourself.  Even these Olympic athletes (who I believe really are from another planet) have tons of people helping them.  I know that the 41-year old swimmer, Dara Torres, has a group of people who follow her around just to help her stretch after her workouts!  You might be able to do this on your own for a while, but then that motivation starts to fade, and if you don't have any support or even anyone you are accountable to, then it is much much too easy to start skipping a day here and there, and before you know it, you are right back to square one.  (I am speaking from experience here.)  You need to surround yourself with people both of like mind as yourself who are actively pursuing their own goals, and also you need those friends and family who can continue that encouragement with their love (and maybe even sometimes "tough love").  The path to a "better you" will sometimes be a very difficult one because, let's face it, you are going against probably 99% of the population, and it will be oh so easy to start that backward sliding.  However, if you put in place your support groups, and your own accountability people, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, and keep going forward -- even WHEN (not "if") you slip and mess-up (because you will), then one day I predict you will look at yourself in the mirror and you will have become that person you always wanted to be.  It may not be a person standing on a podium getting a gold medal, BUT I think it will be almost as good.

Now, I really really wanted to encourage not only you, but myself also, with these words, and I hope I have.  I think you have a wonderful window of opportunity here that you truly need to take advantage of.  Go ahead and open that window, walk through it, and keep going, and don't look back!  That is the path that will lead you to the YOU that you want to be right now.  The "you" in the future is out there waiting on the "you" right now to catch-up.  So get going!!!

Answer 2

Yes, it is a pipe-dream.  How about joining your local YMCA first.

Answer 3

Not if your sport is shooting.

Answer 4

its not too late.. nothing is too late... as long as you really want to do it. U can have faith in doin it but it also depends on which type of sport you do. good luck!