Why Doctors Say Pro Athletes Shouldn't be Older Than 12 Years

The only thing that's more painful than playing sports as an adult is watching kids play them. However, new studies show that children are the only ones who actually have the constitution to play physical sports at an intense level.

Years from now will the National Football League be filled with kids? It's not likely but there's a good argument that if it were there would be far less injuries. Amazingly, according to Eureka Alert, most young kids between the age of 8 and 12 years old are at their peak fitness level.

For years it was thought that children could not perform under extreme physical activity because they're cardio vascular system is not quite developed. Research has proven that in some cases young athletes are physically fit to do just about anything. Children's muscles don't fatigue as quickly as adults when exercising. They are also far less likely to be injured and even if they are they recover much faster.

Think about it. Sparta began training their soldiers around this age to cut ties with their families and become warriors.

We most likely won't see any 12 year old pro sports teams on the rise in the near future but are we sheltering kids these days? We should acknowledge that they are tougher than we give them credit for. Science has proven that they're probably stronger and in better shape than most adults.

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