Behavior vs biology in performance loss

We’re tackling a heavily requested topic today: triathlon training for masters athletes. Is it possible to slow down the natural performance decline through better and smarter training and recovery? Might you even be able to reverse time and hit new peaks later in life? Mikael Eriksson and Jack Hutchens discuss best practices for older athletes based on their coaching experience and the scientific literature.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: 

• The science of physiological and performance decline with age in swimming, cycling, running and triathlon
• VO2max, strength, muscle mass, fast twitch fibre atrophy, slower recovery, and other factors
• How to tease apart the inevitable decline due to biological processes, and the decline resulting from changing training habits for older triathletes
• The importance of VO2max training, and how to structure it differently for masters athletes
• Strength training as a critical component of triathlon training for masters athletes
• How recovery, nutrition, and sleep needs change with age
• Examples and case studies
• Listener questions
• Practical takeaways

DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES: 

• We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode.
• The shownotes for today's episode can be found at https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts691/

LINKS AND RESOURCES: 

A couple of highlights from the vast literature on masters athletes. 

• Age-Related Changes in Triathlon Performances - Lepers 2010
• Masters Athletes: An Analysis of Running, Swimming and Cycling Performance by Age and Gender - Ransdell 2009
• Current Insights in the Age-related Decline in Sports Performance of the Older Athlete - Gasne 2021
• Master Athletes Are Extending the Limits of Human Endurance - Lepers 2016

WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT?

If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll love the following related episodes:

• The top-5 challenges for masters athletes and how to overcome them – Bo Falck Hansen, PhD | EP#176 - an in-depth interview where Dr. Hansen outlines five main challenges masters athletes face, some of them overlapping with today’s episode, others not.
• How to avoid triathlon and running injuries by optimising training load, life stress, strength training and nutrition | Chris Johnson PT - Not getting injured is key for masters athletes. This episode will help you avoid injuries.
• Strength training for endurance performance with Richard Blagrove, PhD | EP#292 - Strength training is another key component of triathlon training for masters athlete. This is perhaps my number one favourite strength training episode ever on That Triathlon Show.

You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc.

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