Kraus' Recreation and Leisure in Modern Society 10th Edition by Daniel McLean, Linda Dayer-Berenson, Brian Luke Seaward, Amy Hurd

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How Old Is Too Old to Participate in Sport
A growing body of research focuses on aging and fitness. Sport participation is part of the study of fitness. There are long-held traditions about aging and physical activity, and most of these support the notion that as one grows older, participation in sport and physical activity should be reduced. These perceptions can be described as barriers that are both real and perceived. Most older people agree that exercise is good, yet this same group often grew up without opportunities to participate extensively in sport and fitness activities, what is called socialization into organized fitness, and once leaving school, what few opportunities they had were diminished. The result of the lack of socialization and opportunity is that people are left with the real and perceived perception of vulnerability when participating in any level of fitness or sport.
Despite this understanding among researchers, most older adults describe their state of health in positive terms. Yet only a minority participate regularly in active physical leisure at a level sufficient to deter the onset of some level of incapacity. In fact, the research suggests that strenuous physical activity is more likely to be avoided when compared to other types of leisure opportunities. Another barrier to participation relates to how older adults perceive their own body and state of health. This includes the attitudes about what the older body should and should not be capable of doing. It includes biological process decline, but also attitudes, expectations, prejudices, cultural values, and ideals of society as well as those individuals' development as they grow old. a
Not all older people avoid activity. Many are engaged in physical activity, but, as opposed to younger participants who may be involved primarily for a better looking body as frequently suggested on infomercials, they engage in the activity to improve strength, mobility, and balance, all key elements to enhancing individual quality of life as one ages. One of the problems with the research literature, according to Grant, has been a singular focus on the "lived body" at the expense of a broader view encompassing the meanings of later life. b
Grant found that older individuals engaged in a variety of physical activities, and playing sport was important to them. Individuals found that the physical activity and sport had become an important part of their life. Even as they talked about the debilitating effects of aging, these individuals placed themselves in the discourse of good health, resisting the idea that aging was wholly a biomedical problem. However, existing stereotypes, especially for those older than 70 years, continue to exist and will into the foreseeable future. Even as more individuals enter the retirement years, there will be a core who maintains a level of fitness and others who will, for a variety of reasons, assume they cannot remain fit and will choose, either for themselves or have chosen for them, not to participate in physical activities.

Describe some of the potential arguments for not remaining engaged in physical activity and sport as one ages.