Based on a study released this week, Miami Heat star LeBron James will be past his prime when he turns 27 at the end of the year.
LeBron isn't alone among sports stars who, according to research, are on the downside of there careers. Dwyane Wade (29), Tom Brady (33), Peyton Manning (35), Alex Rodriguez (35) and Albert Pujols (31) are all past their sporting primes.
Researchers in Paris, France, studied over 2,000 athletes from 25 different Olympic disciplines to determine the prime year for athletic competition.
Science Daily reports on results of a study done by Geoffroy Berthelot and Stephane Len at the Institut de Recherche bioMédicale et d'Epidemiologie du Sport at INSEP.
An athlete's performance starts out limited at birth, then slowly grows to a peak before declining until death.
The study found that performance of an athlete has an exponential growth curve to the top of the mountain before declining irreversibly.
No matter the supplements and drugs you take, you'll never get back to that athletic prime.
Your athletic peak is 26.0 years for regular athletes and just 21.0 for swimmers.
