Triathlon News

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.

Video Swim Stroke Analysis in Noosa with Coach Nick

As an additional coaching service, Nick Croft – Head coach and MSC sport is now offering regular Swim Stroke Video (under and above water) Analysis in Noosa.  Generally, a Monthly clinic with a maximum group of 4 (with two coaches) with options for smaller numbers – as a pair / couple and or one on one.

Coach Nick has been coaching triathlon and swimming for over 30 years now – off the back of a successful 10 year career (35 pro wins) as a professional triathlete.  Swimming is in his blood with over 50% of his professional triathlon participations, having him winning the swim leg.  The son of Jan Croft (nee Paine) a former 2 x Aust 800m freestyle (880yrds) Champion in 1961 and 62.

Benefits of Swim Video Analysis for Stroke Correction

• Experience immediate enhancement from a video analysis. Swimmers gain a deeper comprehension of their stroke and acquire skills customized to their unique requirements. Every piece of advice and information is personalized for the athlete, considering their swimming proficiency.
• Underwater views are incredibly powerful. Swimmers often learn best through visual experiences.

If you’re looking to make improvements in the pool, swim video analysis is an invaluable tool. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced swimmer, analysing your stroke from an outside perspective can help you identify areas for improvement and find ways to improve efficiency.

It’s never been easier to get high-quality feedback on your swimming technique and make speedy progress towards reaching goals of faster times and improved form.

Full details are now on the MSC website with the link to the Video Swim Analysis page here – https://multisportconsultants.com/training-for-triathlon/swim-stroke-video-analysis/

Strength Training for the bike – with MSC head Coach Nick Croft

The off season is the perfect time to work on bike strength for next season. This will come around quickly and making use of the off season while building a base after some down time is ideal to work some specific strength into your cycling, especially if the bike is your weakness.  Initially once some recovery / easy unstructured training may have taken place some athletes may choose to work in the gym but triathletes are fairly time poor and it is a fact that leg strength is not automatically transferred to the bike. It can be frustrating to see gym built strength fail to transfer to the bike. The majority of strength training for the bike should be done on the bike – unless you have areas that are very week and have been identified in a body screening by a qualified coach / physio and you work on these in the gym to correct any in balances.

Below are some sessions that help build on the bike strength.

Be aware that the sessions described are difficult and can be stressful to your knees. Monitor your knees carefully and stop if you feel any pain or discomfort. Build up the number of repeats and duration of each repeat gradually over weeks. Injuries are often caused by too much, too soon. Have patience with yourself to see the best improvements.

Big Gear Repeats
On a flat course or indoor trainer pedal in a big gear, with a cadence of 50 to 60 rpm for 5 minutes. Your heart rate should stay in heart rate zones 1-3 (60-75% of max HR). That is well below lactate threshold. This workout is to stress your muscular system, not aerobic system. Start with repeats of 5 minutes and work gradually up to 20 minutes. Stay seated in the saddle with a quiet upper-body throughout the repeat.

Big Gear Hill Repeats
When you have built up to 20 minutes of big gear repeats on flat terrain you can do the same session on a longer – not too steep (3-5%) hill to build additional strength. Remember to stay seated in the saddle with a quiet upper-body. Focus on leg strength and adjust gears accordingly.

Force Repeats
This workout is similar to lifting weights in the gym, but done on the bike. On a flat course or indoor trainer pedal in a gear that only allows you to reach 50 60 rpm. While remaining seated drive the pedals down as hard as possible for 15 to 20 revolutions of the cranks. Do 6 to 10 of these, starting a new one every 3 to 5 minutes. Between force repeats spin 85+ rpm easily with light pressure on the pedals.

90 Second Hills
On an indoor trainer with a high resistance setting pedal for 30 seconds at 70 to 80 rpm with your heart rate in zone 1-2, shift up one gear and maintain cadence for 30 seconds, shift up another gear and maintain cadence for another 30 seconds. Your heart rate will rise but should stay below lactate threshold in zones 3 to 4. Spin at 85+ rpm with light pressure on the pedals for 90 seconds recovery between each repeat. Do this 8 to 12 times.

With the selection of ‘smart (wind) trainers now on the market it has never been easier / more convenient to get stronger on the bike during the off season indoors with the various programs / apps in the market and plot your progress through power and heart rate and make the most of limited time to train.

Keeping momentum up with training through winter – MSC Head Coach Nick Croft*

Now that the last tri events are done and dusted for the past season, the question for many motivated age groupers reads something like this – where to from here and what does one do in order to keep the momentum and fitness going that you  worked so hard all season to achieve?

This is a question that as a coach, I face frequently as the days get shorter and the bike lights are dusted off and the weekend events lose their ‘aquatic component’.

One of the first things you must ask yourself is what am I training for in the interim and what are the goals for next season?  This answer of course varies widely but for those wrapping up and coming off the first season of doing the sprint events then that goal may as simple as repeat the races you did this season but be faster or more competitive or to step up to the next distance and face up to the Olympic distance challenge.  In order to improve we must raise that bar and it may be as simple as not having too much total time off between seasons.  But first, some down time will be on the cards.  As no matter how motivated we may be coming off the high of being a triathlete this past season everyone needs to take some down time physically and emotionally to restore reserves and freshen up.  I like to give my athletes some respite of anywhere between four to six weeks at seasons end.  This is also a great time to re-evaluate the season just gone and ask yourself a few more questions: –

What did I do well in training and racing this past season?

What needs some work and what are my weaknesses? For example open water swim confidence or bike strength on hills or run speed or endurance.

How do I improve overall times and efficiency, technique?

Do I train more? / Faster? / Smarter?

Start using a coach or join a club?

How many hours do I have to train – for the off season and new season?

You will find a great deal of motivation comes from putting pen to paper and list a simple and realistic plan to take into the off season with you.  The key is to keep it simple and above all else keep it real.

Once you have a strategy and plan for the following summer, now we come to the question of what do we do to get to next season (some three to five months away depending on your geography in Australia) and to make training interesting and maintain that hard fought fitness.

Time off – as already mentioned, it is important to have some down time and break that structure and routine you have set yourself all summer.  By all means stay in touch with some light training but make it more social, cut out intensity, drop the volume and frequency, make sure you have some sleep in’s and breakaway from the normal training patterns.  Keep up aerobic activity but try to change from the swim, bike, run norm and broaden your activities – it is true of the saying that a change is as good as a break.

Below I have listed a number of different ways to get through winter and gain from the off season in order to come out the other side a stronger and more tuned athlete ready to go to a new level.

Physical screening – by a physiotherapist, experienced personal trainer or qualified coach.  This will go a long way to help you find out potential weaknesses in your physical self to work on during the off season.  Things like overall or certain areas of flexibility, gluteal strength, core, lower back or lower leg weaknesses – all which can be worked on while the winter sets in and the focus comes away from the swim, bike run volume that summer dictates.

Head indoors – the first stop after a screening may be the gym based on that outcome.  You will find this a good place to seek refuge in the colder climates with various group fitness programs on offer, as well as find expert advice on how to implement your core or specific program into your training week.  Spin Classes for the bike, and some of the body pump style of circuits are a good off season alternative and break away from the normal triathlon structure and will add a twist to keeping up the fitness in a different environment for a few months.

Many Tri clubs now offer winter programs that are devised by the club coach and emphasis off season training which is different to in season and is geared more towards maintenance and fine tuning technique.  For example for the bike it may be group weekly windtrainer sessions working on technique pedalling, incorporating one leg isolation drills, fast spinning while maintaining good technique, big gear muscular tension efforts and so on.

Another indoor winter activity becoming more popular with triathletes is Yoga.  There are many different types and orientations.  I like to work into my own coaching squad program a Yoga session and make it triathlon specific in a weekly class all year round.  We focus on lower and upper back, arms and shoulders, hips and glutes, back of legs in hamstrings, calves – so a lot of downward dog pose which works wonders for those tight backs of legs.  It will be the best stretch you do all week and the meditative side also helps clear the mind and helps you refresh.  Doing this on a Monday is a great way to start the week.

Training in a different location is a great way to spice things up and focus at the task at hand and leave the normal worries of the world behind.  A weekend away or doing a training camp does wonders for the motivation and pick up new ways to train and get in some good training to help your early season preparation.

Swimming falls in the category for many as a weakness and therefore not something that gets much attention when there are no races around the corner.  Certainly having some time out of the water is expected for us but there are some things you can do as part of your off season program to make the return to training a little more enjoyable.  Having your time in the gym should include some swim specific exercises that maintain some swim strength and endurance.  Areas of weakness in the swim muscles generally would be triceps, lats, shoulders and lack of flexibility in upper and lower back (yoga great for this).  Doing two specific gym workouts per week that include the above muscle groups and being able to hit the water once or twice a week in the off season is enough to stay in touch and build a platform to up the volume and intensity as the season draws closer.  Using dry land stretch cords is also a great way to stay in touch with the feel of the water without getting wet.  Doing a set of ten times one minute twice a week with the rubber bands with hand paddles on the hands helps you keep the strength on the catch and pull.  These are handy to travel with and a great way to warm up pre swim in the cold or before a race.

Bike – I have already made mention of spin classes, tri clubs group windtrainer sessions etc as a way to stay in touch with the bike during the colder months.  During the week with the lack of time and daylight this makes it harder to venture out – the indoor option is in my option one of the best ways to maintain and even improve your cycling.  Forty five minutes to one hour one or two times per week on weekdays is doable.  Also getting a bike shop or professional bike fit organisation / or coach to check and fit you up properly if you have not done so or if you are thinking of up grading or changing your bike.

Run – winter is the run season in Australia.  Traditional goals tend to be the ten kilometre or the half marathons to work towards.  Emphasising the running is a great way to improve your triathlon run leg, stay in good shape and make the most of what may be limited available training time with the lack of daylight hours.  Go through the run calendar and pick out three or four events between June and October to work to and use as time trial efforts over varying distances depending on your tri race distance.

Body maintenance Once we get over the age of thirty you will find you may need to spend more time doing the stretching, and using other forms of maintenance to enable you to get out on the road and moving freely.  Most triathletes that have been doing the sport for some time will tell you they have areas they know that need to maintained daily regularly.  So kicking off and making good a routine to get these ‘hot spots’ under control now that the season is done is the first step in allowing you to get the next season off to a good start.

I have just really touched the tip of the iceberg with ways to keep active with the race season in hiatus.  Certainly reduce your swim bike and run volume for a period of time and replace with some of the alternatives listed above.  The best age group athletes are the ones who maintain enthusiasm and consistency in training and adjust the training schedule according to the season and time of year. Doing the same thing week in week out all year around is unrealistic and will soon become tiresome for you.  Above all else make sure the process is (mostly) enjoyable and has the element of variety.

Nick Croft* Former professional and Australian Triathlete of the year.  A two- time Noosa Triathlon winner and coach for the last 30 years.  Nick coaches athletes of all abilities in his home town of Noosa Heads on Queensland’s Sunshine coast in weekly squads year round and coaches online through www.mscsport.com.au