Training considerations for the masters athlete

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).
Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach.

When I was a kid I would always look at my parents and think they were old. My dad was in his 40s and my mum was in her 30s when I was 12 years old. So, I was young, and they were old. Now that I’m in my 30s I obviously see how wrong I was! I still have a lot of quality years of life in me.

Although I’m certainly not “old”, I am considered a masters athlete once I turn 35. That’s right, a masters (recreational) athlete at 35.

Does this mean that I have automatically mastered the art of being a recreational athlete once I turn 35? Unfortunately, no. It just means that I’m getting older and, as a result, have special health and training needs. I need to think smarter about how I train in my 30s. This goes for any sport, but in my case it's running.

I have decided to do some research into the specific training and recovery needs of the masters athlete (recreational and elite) to protect myself from injury and continue to enjoy my running as I get older.

Here are my top considerations for the masters athlete

Tailor your training to your sport

Sounds logical, right? If you want to run a 10km event, then you should train to be able to run that distance (or close to) before the day. But, what does "train" actually mean? It's not just about running the distance. It’s important to include specific strength training, as well as distance and speed training, into your program. All athletes should do this, but it becomes especially important as we get older and our adaptation to training changes. So, my training program includes resistance training for key muscle groups 2-3 times per week, as well as having long and slow runs, and short and fast runs (which I elaborate on below).

Run easy or hard and not somewhere in the middle all the time

Some people run because they just enjoy running. They go out every day, at the same time and run around the same park at the same pace because that’s their jam. That’s awesome, you do you!

However, for those who want to mix things up a bit (e.g. increase their running distance or speed), they also need to mix up their training a bit too. Masters runners often find their thing and stick to it because it might have worked for them before (can’t teach an old dog new tricks?). However, science tells us that their running performance could benefit greatly by substituting some of their regular cruisy long runs for specific hard and specific easy sessions. 

Hard sessions can include things like fartlek or interval training. Easy sessions require discipline for the regular runner who can't help but to run faster. They could simply be a tempo or slower run or, if you can’t be trusted, try a bike ride instead.

Consider your running surface and plan for it

Do you like to pound the pavement outside your city office or feel the squishy mud under your feet as you smash out a trail run in the hills on a Sunday? Either way, think about what you are running on (i.e. concrete with a slight elevation vs grass/track/mud with random changes in elevation). This will determine a couple of things you need to do to prevent injury: 

1. What kinds of shoes you should use

Trail runners sometimes need additional grip, whereas road runners might need some mild support to prevent excessive pronation. These are features of the right running shoe and getting a professional fit can help ensure you choose the best shoe for your needs.

2. The type of strength training you should do

Running in the hills will require awesome proprioception (knowledge of where your body parts are when you aren’t looking at them, which is a huge part of balance) and strength of smaller stability muscles at your joints. Road running also needs these things, but, if I were to prescribe a training program for an uncomplicated road runner, I would typically focus less on the proprioception training (like bouncing on a trampoline) and more on conventional plyometric training on harder surfaces (think hopping, skipping etc.).

Focus on nutrition

Good nutrition is important for all athletes at all ages because all athletes need to recover well (even if they aren’t striving for their next PB). I used to be able to eat whatever and not notice much of a difference in my running performance (probably because I didn’t really care). I reckon if I put more effort into my nutrition early on then I would have gotten more from my training and achieved some great things. But, as I said, I was just happy plodding away on my regular runs.

As we get older our sports nutrition needs change. For example, it’s very important for all athletes to consume protein (and other nutrients) after a workout to help the body respond to the training stimulus, but older athletes might need to consume more protein compared to younger athletes simply because they don’t absorb it as well. 

Also, muscle percentage tends to decrease and our bone density can take a hit as we age, meaning special attention needs to be paid to calcium intake as well as protein to build and maintain our musculoskeletal system. 

So, as we age, it’s important to pay more attention to our diets and how we can use food to fuel our activity and protect us from injury. I encourage many masters athletes (especially recreational ones) to chat with a sports dietician to make sure their diet is appropriate to support their training.

 Recover well to perform well

Image 1: Rest is needed for the body to respond effectively to training (Source)

Masters athletes might need longer to recover between training sessions. Image 1 demonstrates that performance increases as we progressively stress the body with training, but only if we give it time to recover and adapt to that stress. If we don’t allow enough recovery time, or assume that the amount of time it took for us to recover in our 20s is the same as in our 50s, then we risk under-recovery and injury.

Different life stages can impact how you feel and perform

Having a baby, breastfeeding, having a normal menstrual cycle, having an abnormal menstrual cycle, experiencing pre-menopause, going through menopause…basically there’s a heap of life changes (mostly hormone-related) we go through during our masters years that can impact training and performance. 

Right now, I need to think about how pregnancy (running with a pregnant belly was HARD!), my menstrual cycle (see my post on exercise and the menstrual cycle here) and breastfeeding (think low oestrogen, which can have negative impacts on musculoskeletal health) impacts my training and performance. But, later I’ll need to start thinking about how menopause will impact my training and performance.

Listen to your body

Honestly, I think athletes of all ages should be doing this. If you feel like crap, then you might need a rest day (I encourage one at least once a week) or to do a different type of training session (e.g. an easy run rather than your scheduled hard run).

You might feel crap because you might not be recovering well, especially if you are losing sleep (e.g. due to work stress, kids, hormonal changes, other “adulting” challenges), mentally drained (e.g. from long work hours and needing to remember grade 3 maths during lockdown-mandated home-schooling etc.) or not fuelling your body appropriately (Image 2).

Image 2: Mental fatigue can be just as taxing, and contribute to, physical fatigue (Source)

I am much better now at including a 10 minute warm up before each run and this allows me to decide how I am feeling that day and what my body can handle. I used to think of that 10 minutes as wasted time. But, now I think of it as a way to add plyometric training into my program, spend less time injured and more time running faster (as I’m already warm when I start!).

Taking a rest or low-intensity day won’t set you back in your training (read that again! And again!). In fact, it might enhance it! See Image 1 above that shows that sufficient recovery between training sessions actually allows you to perform better in the next session. As Dr Shona Halson says, the only training you benefit from is the training you recover from!

References

Prof Peter Reaburn tips and recommendations for training as a masters athlete

The Physical Performance show podcast – Dr Stephen Seiler (benefits of periodised training), Prof Peter Reaburn (training the masters athlete), Dr Shona Halson (recovery)

Sports Dieticians Australia – Nutritional considerations for the masters athlete

The effects of age on muscle and bone health

Dr Stacey Sims' Instagram posts on hormones and impact on performance