I'm almost 30 and have been doing grappling for 9 years on and off. Whenever I'm "on" it takes a couple of months for my body to adjust to working out. I come home sore and bruised and my wife thinks I've been through a prison riot. After a couple of months, my body toughens up and I usually don't get that many bruises unless I go against a monster grappler.
Things I've noticed about my body:
1) As I get older, it takes longer for my body to toughen up if I take any time off (3 weeks or more).
2) I need to warm up longer and stretch more thoroughly (before and after).
3) As I get better, I tend to use less strength and actually get less of a physical workout and more of a mental workout, especially with upper belts.
I will probably keep working out for many years. I don't think that you see many older people doing this for a couple of reasons. One, grappling is just becoming mainstream since it really broke onto the scene with the UFC.
Two, as one gets older, you tend to do other less physical things in life. I think it is sports across the board, not just grappling. There will always be older people doing any number of sports but it is certainly a smaller percentage of the age group participating as the age increases.
-smokey
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