What is possible as a cyclist as you get older?
Listen to some people and they will tell you that as you get older you will get slower and you need to do less because of your age.
That's one camp of thought, here's another.
As a coach, and at 51, almost 52 I'm proving these age naysayers wrong not just in my performance but in the cyclists and athletes I coach.
There are not a lot of studies on older athletes' performance so we don't know much about this population in detail but here's what I do understand from my experience and the research I've done so far.
As you get older your muscle mass, type 11 muscle fibres that produce instant power, bone mass, lactate threshold and Vo2 decline. All that could get you to think that there is no hope and you might as well sit and watch Countdown with a rug over your lap for the rest of your life.
But just hold on a minute.
If you train specifically you can out train your age, improve your performance, training and health span.
But I want to retire I hear you cry.
No, you don't if you want to age exceptionally and stay badass on your bike.
So, what is possible as you get older?
Let's break this down into Training, Nutrition and Lifestyle.
Training:
Everything I read says that as you get older you can dramatically slow down the age-related decline if you include intensity sessions such as Vo2 and Threshold, lift heavy in the gym and, prioritise recovery. It really is a case of use it or, lose it!
Nutrition:
The body of evidence shows that as we get older we need to pay particular attention to eating quality protein meals and spread them evenly across 4 to 6 meals a day if we want to recover faster and hold onto as much muscle as we can. Which you want to do because it's your powerhouse to riding hills faster and pulling bigger turns in a group.
Eating carbohydrates has been shown to be muscle sparing and improve high-end training later on in the day. I've got a video about that I'll link to the bottom of this blog
All this is why I am not a fan of fasting for prolonged times as you get older. Yes, I know some say that fasting improves cell health but no more than staying within your calorie range.
Lifestyle:
Let's start with sleep and recovery. This is where the magic happens from training. Joe Friel talks about this a lot. Athletes and cyclists that want to reduce injury risk and improve performance should prioritise sleep and allow adequate recovery between intense sessions.
I want to touch on Motivation and peer pressure. As you get older your motivation to train hard, and do tough, intense training might not be as strong as when you were younger. You could be persuaded by your older less sporty peers that this is going over the top and un unnecessary.
But screw them because they're wrong and holding you back.
From experience and what I see with the cyclists I coach, older cyclists that train with focus and intensity are still riding fast, look leaner, feel younger, and act more youthfully than their naysayer counterparts.
So, what is possible as you get older?
As much as you want, you just need to train and eat with specificity. Much like you did when you were younger. 100% of what is possible is down to your belief and drive to keep going. Subscribing to the dogma that age is slowing you down is exactly what is slowing you down.
Who encourages you to do more and, who is your Countdown Nemesis?
Missing breakfast resulted in a 3% power drop in evening performance
https://youtu.be/JWaYfuSPu_c
Thanks for reading
Simon
Performance & Nutrition Director
2 X Winner of Gym Based PT, and founder of VPCC