Triathlon is a three-stage race in which an athlete’s stamina, strength, and endurance are tested to its limits. Swimming is its first stage that merges into cycling and ends with a marathon run. Many competitors just enter the race to challenge themselves and the course. Finishing the race, no matter what the time is a winning situation for most of the athletes crossing the finishing line.
Professional athletes, who have retired from the highly competitive world of sports, usually find it very difficult to exist without the challenges, sweat, and pain, they endured throughout their professional lives. Many of these retires professionals keep their competitive spirit alive by entering the world of triathlon, where competition is basically between you and the finish line.
10 Reasons Why Retired Pro Athletes Turn to Triathlon
Here are 10 basic reasons why retired professionals opt for a triathlon. These reasons have been categorized into the following groups.
Physical Benefits
- Weight Loss
The most obvious change will be weight loss. As many retires professions tend to gain weight, the rigorous triathlon course can shed those fatty pounds very rapidly.
- To Look and Feel Younger with More Energy
Retirement very rapidly makes athletes lose their strong sculptured physiques. Triathlon’s cross-country training and race again build up lean muscles, giving strength and flexibility to the body. Dwindling energy levels related to age, are given a replenishing boost.
- More Output from your Workouts
With retirement and age and no competition goals, the workouts become lax and lazy. Re-entering competition especially an endurance filled triathlon is enough motivation to bring out positive 100% output from the workouts. Triathlon rejuvenates the spirit and muscle.
- Making your Body Injury Proof
Years of injuries and stress of the competitive world is held at bay by the regular exercise regime of hard training. But retirement usually makes us neglect the regular exercise routine once followed by the athlete. This ends in a compilation of all the stresses and injuries sustained by the body resulting is slow physical deterioration. Triathlon with its intense training and strength building prevents the body to lapse into a weakened easily injury prone stage.
- Health Improvement with Long Life
Exercise helps prevent many diseases of old age namely osteoporosis, depression, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Many athletes, just to attain the pinnacle of health and energy, opt for this race. It not only challenges them but keeps them fit and healthy.
Mental Benefits
- More Productive with Effective Stress Management
Although physical benefits are great, the mental benefits of triathlon are overwhelming. The mental strength developed with sharpened focus brings out the productivity of the athlete along with effective stress management.
- Rebuilding your Confidence
Challenging and finishing the triathlon, is an achievement and a confidence builder for a retired athlete, who now no longer is the star he once was.
- Improvement in Mood and Motivation
Sedentary life of retirement is a like a death warrant for some old athletes. So, triathlon, where the old athletic body again becomes alive and fit, smoothly going through the motions, is a mood changer and a beacon of motivation for the retired athlete.
- Turn your Weaknesses into Strength
Seeds of weakness fear and doubts sown by age and retirement begin to fall away as a retired sportsman competes for the grueling triathlon. Weaknesses settling in with age are converted to strength and endurance as one manipulates to defeat the triathlon course.
Social Benefits
- Join and Compete with the Best Athletes
As a retired sportsman competes with younger stronger competitors and gives his best to outrun most of them on the triathlon course becomes an inspirational force which leads to an increase in purpose for attaining higher goals in life.
