Aging and Performance, Part 5

In Part 3 and Part 4 of this series I made an argument for training aerobic capacity as you get older in order to maintain not only VO2 max but also lactate/anaerobic threshold and economy, the “Big 3” of endurance training. In this last installment (Whew! Finally!) I will relate such training to periodization. In other words, based on the type of event you are training for, when is it most affective to do VO2 max intervals?

My experience in observing athletes for decades is that as they get older they tend to gravitate toward longer races and train at a lower intensity. As mentioned earlier, this results in a loss of aerobic capacity over time. While these aging athletes are still much more aerobically fit than their sedentary neighbors, including those younger than themselves, they could be more fit – and race faster at all distances – by training with higher intensity for at least some portion of their seasons.

A University of Colorado study from a few years ago confirms both of the above contentions. Wilson and Tanaka studied 13,828 male subjects who were divided into three groups: sedentary, active, and endurance-trained (1). The endurance-trained subjects were runners. They found that body fat and weight increased with age in the sedentary and active groups but not with the runners. Yet the runners’ VO2 max dropped at the rate of 6.8% per decade (sedentary-8.7% and active-7.3%). You may recall from my previous post on aerobic capacity that the formula for determining VO2 max is mL O2/kg body weight/minute. So if body weight stayed the same yet VO2 max was decreasing the only change taking place was that the volume of oxygen the athletes could use during maximal exercise was decreasing.

While age may account for a portion of this drop in O2 usage, I suspect that a portion was the result of the runners doing slower workouts as they got older thus reducing stress on the aerobic system. Use it or lose it. In fact, the study found that there was a significant decrease in the speed of training runs with advancing age in the endurance-trained group of runners. Was that due to the ravages of age or a reduced motivation to run fast? In other words, does getting older make us slower, or do we elect to train slower as we get older? I don’t know of any research on that question. My guess is that both things happen with advancing age: We experience physiological changes that reduce aerobic capacity but we also gravitate toward slower workouts. While you probably can’t change the physiological decrements you certainly can change your training to include more high-intensity workouts and thus preserve some portion of your aerobic capacity.

One of the questions you should be asking is “when should I do harder workouts and what should I do?” I answered the latter part of this in Part 4. Don’t rush into VO2 max-interval training if most all of your recent training has been zone 3 and lower, which is common for older athletes, I’ve found. Start, instead, with zone 4 training over several weeks with once- or twice-weekly “cruise intervals.” This will raise your VO2 max significantly if you haven’t been training that intensely and prepare your body for the higher-intensity zone 5/5b VO2 max intervals also described in Part 4.

If it’s been years since you’ve done such training then allow your body to adapt to the zone 4 workouts over an even longer period of time, perhaps 3 to 6 months, with only one such session a week 2 out of every 3 weeks. And, as always, if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease or have experienced symptoms then consult with your doctor before beginning such training. (Dr. George Sheehan, a noted runner, philosopher, Runner’s World columnist and author, used to say that if you aren’t going to exercise you should see your doctor.)

But what if you do long, slow (relative to VO2 max pace/power) races such as marathons, Ironman triathlons and centuries? Should you still train with fast-paced intervals? After all, as I’ve said many times here before, the key to periodization is to make the workouts increasingly like the A-priority race the closer in time you come to the race. Wouldn’t VO2 max intervals be counterproductive in that case?

Well, the answer depends on when you do the fast intervals. I often read on the internet of athletes describing what they call “reverse periodization.” They are usually a bit confused about what this is, but it is the answer to the dilemma of when to do high-intensity training when getting ready for a long, relatively slow race. Most athletes seem to believe that periodization means the closer in time you get to your race the more intense your training should become. So they believe that when training for, say, an Ironman that in the last few weeks before the race you should be doing VO2 max intervals. That’s obviously wrong and they sense it. So they invent reverse periodization in which the VO2 max intervals are done in the Base period. They’ve solved the problem with their “reverse periodization,” but for the wrong reasons.

Indeed, the solution is to do VO2 max intervals (as described in Part 4) in Base 3 when you are training for an event which will be conducted at well below VO2 max pace or power. But this isn’t “reverse periodization” at all; it’s exactly what periodization is all about – making training more like the race the closer you get to it. Conversely, the farther away (in time) from the race, the less like the race training is. This is still linear periodization (by the way, there are many other ways of periodizing training other than linearly which I hope to discuss here some time). So having done VO2 max intervals in Base 3 (these will raise not only your aerobic capacity but also your lactate threshold pace/power while improving your economy) you progress into more race-like pacing/power in the Build period.

Assuming two A-priority races in a season this means you’d spend 8 to 12 weeks a year working on aerobic capacity with such workouts spread out into at least two portions of the year. That’s what I do with the older athletes I coach. And it’s quite effective, I’ve found.

That’s it. That’s how I train older athletes to help maintain their aerobic capacities while producing faster times in very long races. Of course, there is much more to training as we get older than this. Other major concerns are the timing of rest, recovery modalities, nutrition (a huge topic for older athletes), strength work and psychological training.

The reason I wrote this exceptionally long, 5-part post on aging and performance is that I am considering writing a book on the subject so it is on my mind a lot right now (not to mention that I am also getting up there in years). If you’d like to read what I wrote about on this same topic about 13 years ago look for a copy of my second-ever book, Cycling Past 50 (that’s me on the cover at age 53). A lot has changed since then, which is why I am considering a new book on the topic of aging (not just for cycling, by the way), but the basic premise I describe here is the same.

Thanks for hanging in there with me through several weeks on this topic. As a result, we’re now both older– and wiser (I hope!).

References

1. Wilson, T.M. and H. Tanaka. 2000. Meta-analysis of the age-associated decline in maximal aerobic capacity in men: Relation to training status. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 278(3): H829-34.

Comments

[Jay Talbott]

Joe,

Nice group of articles. Maybe an article about how Jeannie Longo prepped for the TT yesterday at age 52. Maybe come up with a catchy magazine title and condense it into an article for a magazine. Something like:
Practice speed to keep it speedy.

Jay

[Joe Friel]

Hi Jay--Thanks. Yeah, I'd like to know more about her physiology and training also. Anyone out there have a source of such for Longo?

[Jeff]

Joe:

This has been a great series for me (age 54). An x-runner, replaced with cycling 7 years ago due to an achilles tendonitis problem and got hooked. I'm starved for more age-based training info and hope you do follow through with a book. Question: For us older athletes, any harm (or extra benefit) with doing a weekly Zone 4 workout (such as your 10-8-6-4 pacing workout described in your May 20,2008 post)throughout the off-season and through the Base periods?

Jeff

[Joe Friel]

Hi Jeff--Thanks for your comment. Physiologically I don't see any reason why you couldn't do sub-anaerobic threshold workouts year round. For some it may become mental drudgery. It would for me. I like somewhat less structured workout intensities in the early base period especially. But if you enjoy such training then it's ok.

[Peter Karlsson]

Joe, many thanks for your blog, superb info, I'll buy your book when you're ready. Until then, could you possibly give some feedback?

I've just started training my aerobic system (3 months) at the age of 40, after almost never before in my life. I've been active though, lifting weights for 20+ years, and enjoying bicycles since child age, just not training on them.

I've bought an old cheap tempo bike with a power/pulse meter on it, love it! I'm doing 2 aerobic workouts/week, plus some usual weight training. It's laidback. Sometimes bike+run at once.

Now, my rest pulse is maybe weird? Between 31-38 when starting out, not measured it since then. I've done some max pulse tests, reached 181 at most, both bike and run, don't think I can get it higher.

When starting out 3 months ago, I could maintain 160/89% for an hour maybe, and 170/93% maybe a minute; a total pain. Now I'm at 170/93% for half an hour during an hour workout, feeling good. I get "decoupling" (I think) at that level; running pace starting out at about 15 km/h, going down to 13 km/h.

Watts average about 230W over 20 km @ 38 km/h, 168/92%, everything roughly, pretty flat roads.

Does this tell you anything I should know? Any advice? Am my rest pulse something to be alarmed about? I'm not getting dizzy, I feel good.

Many thanks Joe /Peter, Sweden

[Ali Edwards]

Thanks for more great insight Joe,

In regards to VO2 work - where I race the standard distance for a Masters TT(my main goal) is 20km(12.5mi) so usually 25-28mins on courses with short climbs of 1 - 3 mins. I usually do 2xL4 sessions a week in Build 1 then 1xL4 and 1xL5(VO2 Max)session a week in Build 2 figuring power will always be around 10 percent higher on the climbs and thus VO2 work should help. Does this make sense or would you think perhaps to reverse this with 1xL5 and 1xL4 sessions in Build 1, and 2xL4 sessions(around CP30) in Build 2.

Cheers

Ali

[gwendolyn oguin]

Hi Joe: this series was just great.Not unlike yourself the years are adding up but I would like to say that I am still beating my younger 30-40 yo in TTs and winning my age group. Would love to see a new book on this topic, we have so much to learn. I feel a portion of aging and slowing is mental probably to a point...but which point. Hope you are well, Hello to Joyce.

[Jim Wade]

Joe, Thanks for this series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am looking forward to your new book. I began as a runner and at age 60 switched to alternating running with cycling every other day. I used your Cycling Past 50 book as my bible to integrate cycling into my routine.

Now that I am pushing 70 I am more focused on being able to maintain my fitness and be able to function as well as I can now as I age, rather than to try to compete. Although, I do schedule races, even if I may not enter them, to set goals and get me out the door. I also try to incorporate weight training, core exercises, flexibility exercises, etc. into my routine to attain this.

Time to go do some cruise intervals

Jim

[Jeanine Murphy-Morris]

Joe -

Being 50 now, I read your excellent articles with much interest. I dabbled with half-iron distance triathlons this year, and while I enjoy the excuse to go slower, I want to be more competitive at short races next year. How about us older wanna-be speed demons? I hope your book addresses us as well.

Jeanine

[Joe Friel]

HI Jeanine--Thanks. I agree and have no intention of writing a book just to tell people how to race slowly. No fun in that. The blog post discussed this point quite a bit because that is what we older folk tend to do - go slow. It wasn't meant to suggest that's what everyone should do.

[Joe Friel]

Hi Gwendolyn--Thanks! Hope you're well.

[Joe Friel]

Ali--I think that's great. Keep it up.

[Joe Friel]

Peter--Thanks for your comment. Don't be concerned with HR. It varies considerably between people. My book Total Heart Rate Training discusses this variability and the inaccuracy of a formula for predicting what it should be when maximal. Low resting HRs are generally a good thing also. Keep doing pretty much what you are doing now. It appears to be working well.

[Alex]

Hi Joe, and thanks for the excellent series! I´m still 40 (tomorrow!) but keeping an eye on the subject already, great topic. I´ve been riding consistently for 25 yrs and racing competitively in road cycling for the last 6 or 7 and I love your blog.

I´m coming from a 3 week RR period after an eventfull season (lots of races and a nice L´Ètape du Tour in July which I finished in 7:20), and I was wondering if you think it´s OK for me to go back to VO² intervals right away or if I should do some kind of base training. Perhaps just a few adapting miles before upping the intensity in a more structured way? I´m already riding 5-6 times a week but only enjoying and "feeling" myself so far.

I´ve got 3 important and long races with lots of climbing and I enjoyed great fitness training with plenty of intensity work early this yr. I´ve gained only 2 or 4 pounds but I feel I´ve lost a little endurance and anaerobic capacity. I don´t want to burn myself out and I´ve got 5-7 weeks before those races but I´m uncertain about the best strategy for the rest of 2010 (middle-age crisis perhaps?).

Thanks for the blog and best of luck!

[Joe Friel]

Alex--Thanks for your comment. I'm working on a blog post now which I think may answer your question. But if not let me know. Check back in a day or so.

[Darren Knight]

Hi Joe. I have your triathlon bible which I flick through almost every night and also have Going Long which you co-wrote with Gordo Byrn. I have completed 3 sub 11hr Ironmans (5 total) all self coached thanks to your book. My question is do you propose say 2 blocks of Build and then finish off with a Base block (or 2) after that where you increase overall volume again when peaking for an Ironman or marathon. For example: Base 1, Base 2, Build 1, Build 2, Base 3, Peak, Race. With that final Base 3 a quality workout midweek with your "race pace" session on the weekend incorporating plenty of Zone 3 (rather than 4) with Z4 midweek. Hope question isnt too long! Thanks

[Joe Friel]

Darren--Yes, it could be done many different ways including the ones you suggest here. When it comes to IM there is little difference between Base and Build. The key, as always, is to make training more like the race the closer you get to the race. What you call it is really immaterial.

[Mike]

Joe,

As a 38 yr old Cat 2 who trains with power, I am seeing consistent progress in my power profile despite the aging process. It is my hypothesis that, since I have yet to achieve my potential, I should not anticipate a decline in fitness despite the aging process because my improvement potential more than offsets the erosion from the aging process.

All of the above is predicated on a solid training plan with the appropriate intensity discussed in your blog, etc.

Tell me I am not too optimistic. After being whooped by Thurlow Rogers at the Boulevard road race last year, I figure I can't use age as an excuse!

[Joe Friel]

Mike--You know you're old the first time you use age as an excuse. :)

My experience has been that athletes improve their performances for about 10 years after they start serious training. The first 3 years or so is primarily due to rapidly changing physical capacity. The next 7 or so is primarily due to wisdom regarding training and racing. After about 5 years the improvements become increasingly smaller and more difficult to achieve every year.

[David]

Joe
Thanks for another great post. At age 49, after two years of cycling (and not much athletically before that), I had my VO2 max measured twice in a lab setting. The first was 67 and two months later was 69. Using your estimates of VO2 Max deterioration with age, it would seem that in my younger days my VO2 Max would have been, or could have been, in the mid-80s which seems awfully high. If true, instead of my misspent youth, I "coulda been a contender"-- or is it possible for VO2 Max to remain pretty static with age. Or is there something I am missing? Thanks.