AGE CONCERN

Older than 40 and worrying that your cycling performance will recede quicker than your hairline? Don't. With a few training, nutritional and gear tweaks, you'll discover age is no impediment to perfect pedalling...

- Mark Bailey

RAISE THE INTENSITY

"WORKOUT DURATION, INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY ARE THREE ELEMENTS OF TRAINING THAT CAN BE MANIPULATED TO PRODUCE FITNESS"

These are the words of top cycling coach Joe Friel, who is 80 and still riding strong. "As we age there's a tendency to increase duration at the expense of intensity. Workouts become longer and slower as weekly volume becomes the focus of training.

"But the ageing athlete needs to do the opposite. Workouts over 80% of max heart rate should be the basis of your training, around 2-3 times per week. This change results in shorter training sessions but a higher weekly average intensity."

The reason for this is down to maintaining a solid aerobic capacity. Many of us know that maximum HR declines with age. Hence, the parochial method of calculating your maximum heart rate - 220 minus your age.

A lower heart rate reduces cardiac output, which is the amount of blood pumped by the heart each minute. Throw in a less efficient lung function and your VO2 max could go into freefall. But research shows that, as Friel says, raising the intensity of sessions slows the decline.

CHANGE YOUR NUTRITION

"OLDER ADULTS MAY HAVE GREATER DEMANDS FOR SOME MICRONUTRIENTS"

Another component of recovery and training is nutrition, and small tweaks are needed as you age. "Although differences in metabolism and physiological function occur with ageing, the nutrition associated with exercise and sport remains similar between younger and older adults," says James Carter, senior director at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.