Special considerations for Masters triathletes – By Nick Croft*
Having been in the sport now for over 40 years – the first 10 years as a professional triathlete then the past 30 years coaching pro’s and age groupers, over all distances and all ages, I am finding that the average age of my squad and clients is certainly getting into the ‘masters category’ with many in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s making up the majority of the numbers.
Training as an older athlete myself and indeed coaching older athletes, the workload and structure has to be adjusted to take into consideration many factors. I will touch on some key elements to take on board. Of course, masters coaching is a big subject in itself with whole books and training manuals now written on this so I will be touching ever so briefly on some important things to consider for your own training and wellbeing while striving to be your best. I will not be covering off every aspect but quite a few of the highlights that I come across in the day to day and some of the issues that I have found to be limiters in masters athletes in training and for race day performance.
We are all different and this is no less the case as we age. The aging process affects everyone in different ways. History in the sport (or previous activity if new to triathlon), genetics, lifestyle, and you’re attitude all play a part. In my experience in coaching master’s athletes now for over twenty years I don’t really start to see an accelerated decline in performance tell well into late 50’s or early 60’s. You have to remember again that we are all different and recall the other factors mentioned earlier in this article apply re individual genetics, history in the sport, past or current injuries and so on. It has been shown that endurance in a fit athlete declines at only around 4% before the mid 50’s.
Muscle mass starts to decline in our early 30’s and by the time an athlete gets beyond 50 this is a much higher percentage and has been shown to be up to 10% for every 10 years. Looking to add strength training to assist to increase muscle mass in older athletes is a must which helps prevent injuries and assists helping form and technique.
Working in resistance training will help prevent muscle loss and rebuild and activate weak muscles. A circuit style training program using high-intensity, multi-joint lifting at least twice a week, (adapting to your seasonal training and racing load) will benefit the body the most.
Recovery time and sleep need to be increased with age. Without that extra recovery, additional stress and fatigue is placed on older bodies, which increases the risk of injury. As the body ages it becomes less flexible. Losing flexibility is one of the main causes of injury as we age. A structured program designed to maintain flexibility ideally should be worked into older athlete’s weekly programs.
Recovery is a vital part of performance improvement in triathlon. Increasing recovery time will allow a triathlete to train with less risk of injury, for longer and help with motivation for both training and racing. Increased sleep for master’s athletes, especially after a hard workout or race, will help the body recover and come back stronger. Diet is also play’s a very big part in recovery and being able to maintain the right balance to ensure you getting enough protein and fuel to back up plus supplementation may also need to be considered as an older athlete. I like to personally get a full blood test each year to check on various markers to see if deficiencies exist. The diet is an article unto itself and will touch on this in a future article.
Your training Programs should implement periodization. Recovery and rest days need to be factored in more as we get into our 50’s and beyond. For example, do a 2 or 3 week build block then 1 week active recovery where less intensity, volume and more recovery or rest (but still moving) days are worked in. This will ensure you recover better and bounce back fresher. The day following a high intensity session should be an easy day with low intensity / impact training or a day of rest.
Listen to your body. In the real world we cannot lock ourselves away in a bubble to just eat, sleep, train. Other stresses affect how we recover and of course the odd niggle or drop in health with cold or illness may see a training session shelved or at least intensity cut back. Failing to back off and rest when you are tired and a bit low can result in more illness and injury that may see several days or even weeks off.
Get in the gym. Working in Strength or Yoga / Pilates and daily body maintenance to focus on known weaknesses or trouble spots – eg hips or periformis (deep into the butt) or ongoing calf issues will prolong your racing days. Plyometrics instead of traditional run speed work may replace or at least reduce the time done at the track as may have done as a younger athlete and adding dynamic run warm ups to activate the run muscles will also help reduce potential problems.
Establish good local support network in your corner of physio, massage therapist who works with athletes and gets to know your body.
You still need to train hard – intensity wise. Performance focused masters need to push the limits at certain times still (after the appropriate base and endurance is built). Research on athletes – of all ages, male and female, has come back with the same findings – that intensity (how hard we train) is key. However, intensity also brings with it tiredness, fatigue and an increased risk of injury. So preparing the body well for the hard work by developing a good base, getting the muscles and joints strong and then progressively building the intensity needs to be done over time.
This brings us to – Going too hard too soon. Many older athletes, especially those coming back to training after years away, train too hard, too often in coming back or kicking off their program. Overtraining, burnout and injuries just around the corner for those that don’t gradually adapt and allow the body for a progressive introduction to volume, frequency and intensity.
Ideally have a plan / program, work with an experienced coach. Get a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), know how to use and establish your Maximum Aerobic and threshold Heart Rates are and your training zones. Many triathletes train too hard a lot of the time in doing their long runs and rides when they should be more aerobic and when it comes time for higher intensity training on the bike and swim sets may be too tired to lift and get the benefit that these more intense efforts provide – even for older athletes.
Run ‘speed’ work has to change and adapt – you can’t do what you did physically as 22 year old in your mid 40’s, even though we still think young.
Add Hill work which equals speed in disguise (strength). Long runs and rides in the hills and doing hill reps at the right times during your preparation. Add some deep water running as extra stress free running time or use an elliptical trainer in the gym and don’t underestimate the value of cross training. You can still get more intensity in swim and bike sessions without the same risk of injury that exists doing this level of effort running. Your Vo2 max will decline as we age too but more so if you neglect high intensity workouts. Depending on your age – ie early 40’s or late 50’s, early 60’s a higher percentage of swim or bike intensity over run intensity is recommended due to the higher injury risk in training to run fast with intervals, plus the general tightening of the lower back, hips, hamy’s that you get from regular cycling and usually comes to the surface with potential injury with intense running and more so if the body maintenance and daily stretching of the key individual trouble spots are neglected.
Use the latest recovery methods such as compression garments, active recovery (water based training – Deep Water Running), hot-cold contrast baths/showers, good food and hydration – water and electrolytes, massage, and stretching.
As we age, our physiologies, health and ability to recover all change. The old saying of training smarter not harder rings true as we age but we can certainly slow down the process of performance dropping away by implementing some of the steps above in the ongoing quest to be our best even in our later years.
*Nick Croft is a former professional triathlete and has been coaching now for 30 years. A two time winner of the Noosa Triathlon and three time Australian professional Team member at the World Champs and Australian Triathlete of the year during his career and has gone on to become 2005 Triathlon Australia Ironman Coach of the year. He provides online training programs for athletes of all ages and abilities through the website www.mscsport.com.au and organises training camps all year round in Noosa Heads Australia.
