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I didn’t start cycling until in my 40’s and never been exactly fast, but ok on mid paced club rides.
Now at 51 and having not ridden for a bit I’m really struggling for fitness, speed and distance.
I really just want to get to a good standard of fitness and not feel like an old man!
what are peoples top tips?
Become a Deliveroo rider?
Little and often will make a big difference. Frequency is more important.
Little and often
This. Coupled with the odd long Zone 2 ride, which is slower then mid-club pace by a long way.
Two or three days of pushing your threshold+ each week, spread out with easy days.
Zwift Insider Tiny races are four back-to-back sub 15min sprints on Saturdays, at 1000; 1600; 2200 BST. Usually very strong fields, insane pace, great for training hard efforts and recovery from such efforts.
Ride more. Obvs.
Consider an adjacent activity? Swimming, climbing, walking, running, etc.
For me personally, hydration is critical. I sweat for Prince Andrew and if I don't have a bottle of water on the go with a SIS tablet or similar I'm ruined after about 20 minutes.
Comit to 6-12 hours per week on the bike.
Having a target event makes training more purposeful. I started racing gravel and cross.
Consider an indoor trainer/ Zwift setup for short, regular 1 hour workouts.
Ride with other people to stretch yourself.
Lift weights once a week
Don't take it too seriously, life always gets in the way, but consistency is key.
As above plus if there are any spinning classes in your area.
As above, Z2 longer rides, some sort of training programme, zwift whatever, through the winter months, ftp although a factor isn't everything, consistency is your friend. Crucial to all of this is mobility exercises, stretching, hydration & proper recovery
Following with interest, I'm 54, and sounds like a simar level of fitness
Been going to the gym once or twice a year this year for a general weights workout. one or two YouTube yoga sessions each week.
Without planning on "training rides" I got a solid month in June riding (badly) on the club 10 mile TT, the Thursday night hilly 30 mile pub ride and then 40-60 mile club run on the Sundays at 14-15mph and finished the month riding much stronger.
Holidays and general life ruined all that in July, but consistency, stretching and cleaning up tne diet are key for me.
All work in progress, which i quite enjoy. Booked on a two day road ride trip next year, forcing me to take it a bit more seriously
Assuming we are talking about mountain biking then technique pays a big part. You'll waste a lot more energy picking poor lines or pedaling in the wrong place. Learning how to handle the rough, smooth out drops, pump the trail, etc. Might be worth doing a skills course to lose bad habits and have some things to work on.
<p>Fing an event & get a coach. Goal & structure are key.</p>
Take up running. It will do more for your fitness than cycling will. Also, lose 10 kg. Then lose another 10.
^^^ very much this.
My New Year resolution was to start running, every other day, usually first thing in the morning and built it up to 30 minutes.
The difference this has made to my cycling has been surprising.
Running helps more than you might think. It takes time though. During my first few months of running I felt slower on the bike but recovered faster. Now feel stronger on longer rides. Not necessarily faster, but able to ride more often without aching.
Ride ride and ride a bit more.
I signed up to Xert in January to get me fit for the Dirty Reiver.
I improved quite a bit, but it took a lot more hours/week than I anticipated it would.
Now I am back down to the amount I can reasonably manage in a week, my fitness has definitely dropped.
Stuff that works for me at 48- If you’re carrying extra weight work on losing that. Look at your diet and how you are fuelling before and after rides. Lift weights. You state you haven’t ridden for a bit and that means your fitness drops off much quicker when you are older. Ride more. Set some ride targets miles or hours per week.
Your first answer nailed it, get a turbo and start some structured training. Trainer road in particular will automatically design and alter a plan based on your progression and feedback. Training on a turbo is quick, productive and not faff or weather dependent
don't jump straight into 6 hours plus a week. Start with low volume 3-4 hours a week a build slowly from there
Joe Friel wrote a useful book. I am an appalling trainer but the nub of is effectively regular HIIT on a bike with a longer ride once a week.
Take up running. It will do more for your fitness than cycling will. Also, lose 10 kg. Then lose another 10.
With my knees? Best I can manage is a moderate stroll! Even at school I was never much for running, however I could manage walks up to 9 - 10 miles; a bit more of a struggle with the cartilage damage in my knee. Before I consider getting any of my bikes out and riding again, I need some sort of protection.
Also, lose 10 kg. Then lose another 10.
That would take me to 46kg for 1.74m. But if the OP is overweight you have a point. We don't know. Losing weight and trying to get stronger at the same time is likely to be unproductive, get fit and the weight will come off naturally with riding.
At 63 I'm just accepting going slower and suffering more. I gave up racing at 55 because it was more suffering than fun.
Some things you can't fight against. My max and confortable heart rates are dropping fast, and for a given heart rate the percieved effort is higher. Up to 40 I would average 160bpm over a four-hour race and peak at 180bmp bike and 200bpm cross-country skiing. These days beyond 150bpm feels worrying.
So my suggestions are fit lower gears, fit a rack and panniers to carry all the things that make a day out comfotable and enjoy being out there without worrying how fast you're going.
The other thing for me is age group stuff. I might be getting slower, but I'm getting older quicker!
All this talk of do more is fine but in your 50's you also have to ensure you rest more to recover properly and don't over fatigue / train.
If your serious a coach and turbo are likely the best investment for minimal time expenditure v performance improvements.
52 here. I really struggle to maintain regular riding - I'll have a good 2 - 3 weeks then life stuff happens and suddenly a week or more has gone by without touching it then I would feel crap on the bike when I got back on and angry/frustrated with myself.
I've lifted weights on and off since my teens but what has really helped lately has been concentrating on high intensity functional stuff (kettlebells, ring work etc). Pick say five exercises, do them in a circuit with minimal rest in between and see how many circuits you can do in a set time.
Have been pleasantly surprised recently at how strong I feel on the bike after a lay off.
How much time do you have - be realistic, then learn not to waste it watching TV.
Consistency beats going bonkers for a fortnight and falling to bits. If you're over 50 and not very fit then trying to ride threshold 3 times week isn't going to end well for most people
Get a plan , and mix up some longer slow stuff, with some shorter stuff. Try to find a program to follow. It's probably going to get you fitter than just riding everyday,. But don't discount the latter either, if it's all you can do for the first weeks
Start now! You're not getting younger and it's only going to get darker earlier.
And yes to core and mobility. I try and do some easy yoga daily, find something you fancy.
Main thing is that 51 is far too young to go too easy on yourself... Lots of good advice in the cycle forum.
find something you fancy
Oh and definitely this.
The best advice I ever heard regarding exercise is to pick something you enjoy!
Running, if you can do it, is brilliant for gaining fitness and losing weight.
Losing weight is the key for me when I’m feeling sluggish on the bike. Drop a few KG’s and everything is easier.
Read Fast After 50 by Joe Friel.
In summary.
Reduce carbs. Increase protein.
Still train hard but generally on a 10 day or more routine instead of weekly routine.
This year I’ve found volume and consistency to work better than battering yourself on the turbo doing threshold efforts. I just try and get out on the bike most days. Nothing hard, shortest ride say 90 minutes. Maybe have one or two rest days a week. As you get used to the volume you can then introduce a some slightly harder stuff say efforts up hills or along Strava segments. Consistency is key here but undoubtedly life will get in the way some weeks.
Fir me it is a combination of 75% my own commitment (actually doing it) and 25% diet / hydration / facilities.
But I'd also suggest two things.
1) a goal - an event, ride, charity ride whatever- have something personal to aim at. Since turning 50 I've gone from 10 miles per week to 50+ and two (for me) major event / rides and currently starting to plan a big arsed scary third one (maybe Plymouth to London offroad?).
2) a reward- not a day or week off! But a shiny bit of kit, posh dinner, whatever motivates you - for me I've been tying 1) to raising cash (for charity mate) which has massively helped with motivation / training ride guilt.
Works for me but we're all different so find what works for you.
James
Unless you are trying to race just ride more and enjoy the ride. All this zone this and zone that stuff just turns what should be fun into a chore
You do not need more protein - most of us in the west eat far too much. You need mixed carbs to fuel on. I know this will get howls or derision on here but my big bike ride last year my diet contained far less protein than most westerners would eat normally but I made sure I had a good mix of carbs
If you want to go the Turbo route, the JetBlack Volt (basically earlier version of what the Zwift Hub is, rebranded) is £229 delivered from Evans, more deets on the Wahoo Kickr PSA thread. Just ordered mine, hope it’s as good as the reviews.
If you started riding late, and you're currently doing nowt, then you can be stronger and faster than you have ever been in your entire life, if you want to. And it wouldn't take a crazy amount of commitment, either.
Regardless of whether you want to get fast, or want more general feel-good fitness, you should take charge of things. You're in that decade where it's way easier for most people to focus on what they want to do. Pity the fools who got fast on a bike in their 20s.
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">What worked for me ..is to do hills....on the turbo, select hills/mountains route...I would rather do a hr1 up hill than 3hrs on the flats....I went from the back of the group on rides to the top 2...took a year tho</p>
Have a read of The Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell.
This, 100% this…mark the day AA agreed 100% with TJ
I'm getting it tattooed on my forearm in Roman numerals....
This, 100% this…mark the day AA agreed 100% with TJ
I’m getting it tattooed on my forearm in Roman numerals….
I already have!
Try Dr Doug Mcguffs 13 minute workout.Thank me later.
A useful book is The Midlife Cyclisr by Phil Cavell
TLDR- you’re not young any more
dooh - just seen already mentioned
It's hard to argue with TJ for me... I used to power my way to the trails, killing the hills, killing myself.. Now, i cruise to the interesting stuff, try not to die on the way down, then cruise home, likely stopping for a coffee on the way. I still Zwift race plenty, but the outside stuff is there for pleasure only, so why kill myself on the ride.
I think it's not just on the bike that you need to look at. If you want to improve then you have to look at everything from what you eat, what you drink, including alcohol, how much sleep you're getting, what stresses you have to deal with, and examine your coping strategies for those. There's no point in setting up a turbo to get those few extra watts if you are 15kgs overweight, it's not going to translate to getting you up that sustained climb. Likewise there's no point doing hours of Z2 after a skinful of booze the night before, or not enough sleep; you're just wasting your time.
It does depend on your goals..
If it's just to be a bit faster to keep up with the group, then riding with the group consistently will get you there. It'll get easier. Riding with faster people always helps, as you'll do more work than if solo, you'll dig deeper, and if you recover well, you'll get fitter.
On the point of turbo and structured training, I like TrainerRoad. It's simple and smart, with a lot of cool features, such as apative training. BUT, their default plans start with sweet spot base, a lot of people find they burn out quite quickly. I used their sweetspot base, general build plans to great effect when I was racing.
TrainerRoad have now added some polarised base plans, which do look good. I'm going to run through one in the Autumn.
https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/polarized-plan-updates/83044
If you picked the low volume polarised base plan, it's only 3 rides per week; two Z2 and one VO2MAX. I'd do that, and if dry, perform the z2 rides outside, making Sunday a longer cafe ride (if grim, Netflix on the turb). That leaves a couple of days spare for some strength work, and a rest day or two.
To improve, consistency is key, with some kind of progression.
Also, "to improve cycling performance" really look into on the bike hyrdation/fueling. If you're under carbed, that's an easy win. I stopped taking pocket snacks, and now add carbs and electrolytes to my bottles instead, adjusted appropriately for the ride I've planned, ie. quite a lot for a balls out club ride, just electrolytes for a Z2.
Unless you are trying to race just ride more and enjoy the ride. All this zone this and zone that stuff just turns what should be fun into a chore
I think it depends on the individual. I like mountain biking, I live somewhere hilly with lots of ups and downs and I find trundling unsatisfying, if you want to ride short, sharp technical climbs, you need to be able to go anaerobic repeatedly and recover. As per Joe Friel's book, if you don't use/train your top end, you lose it, hence the huge number of older cyclists trundling around at one moderate speed.
That's fine if you enjoy pottering around, but for a relatively small amount of more structured work - high intensity intervals a couple of times a week - you can keep more top-end and for me, that means I enjoy actual riding a shedload more.
You don't have to devote your life to training in zones, just make a commitment to do a couple of quick, more structured sessions. Shoot me now, but I like the feeling of hammering stuff, it's confirmation that I'm not entirely dead.
I'm not saying everyone should or must do that, it depends how you're wired, but personally I find a relatively small time investment makes my unstructured rides a lot more enjoyable. The Friel book is great for general principles of what happens as you age and some simple ways of slowing that process. It doesn't mean I never have easy rides or potter, but it's nice to have a choice. YMMV, but you can do both.
Fitness and enjoyment go hand in hand. If I'm feeling sluggish the ride is definitely less fun. A great ride is when it all comes together.
Fitness and enjoyment go hand in hand. If I’m feeling sluggish the ride is definitely less fun.
100%
When you'll feeling good and strong, the rides are significantly more fun.
It's fantastic that you're looking to maintain and improve your cycling fitness, even as you progress through different life stages.
Start racing. I began at 45 and was regularly dropped. I made second cat at 51. Plenty of masters racing. It's a lot of fun too.
Little and often.
Don't worry about how you feel (because most of your riding will be in 'Z2'). Noone feels good every day. But the person who shows up 'every day' wins the game. Just think of Z2 as 'can I have a constant conversation at this pace? but also need to breathe through my mouth, just not heavily. Yes: You're in Z2. No: Work easier or harder respectively.
Commuting as others have suggested would be a wonderful way to it if it's possible
80% of your time in Z2. 20% (or less) above it, if you wish, builds aerobic base (with the 20% vo2/z4 building the higher end of 'performance'). That ~20% can be races or some kind of competition, as some have suggested. Rather than having to slog yourself solo round grim intervals - but you might enjoy that! Alternatively MTB is forced intervals where you're theoretically having 'fun'! ;).
Strength & conditioning - subscribe to Dynamic Cyclist or join a few local gym classes. Strength, conditioning, mobility, stretching. Try hit a couple of them each week. Even for just 30 mins. Plenty on youtube for free. It'll enable you to ride injury free and continue into life with strength.
I'm late 50's, just ride more - although according to my OH I ride too much 🙂
Having different bikes works well too, for example; I often go out on the gravel bike if on my own, and if it's mucky just stick to the back roads and hardpacked lanes. MTB is normally with pals.
@monkeycmonkeydo Can you talk more about the McGuff approach.
Doable at home? Gym only? Why so keen on it (beyond it being quick, presumably)? Sustainable for the long term if it's super high intensity?
Thank you 🙂
the huge number of older cyclists trundling around at one moderate speed.
this is definitely a thing. I mean good on them absolutely, but I'm thinking of folks who then get a bit frustrated when they put on a bit of weight and slow down slightly more... And doing more of the same is unlikely to help.
(If they're happy with that, social/fun rides etc that'a great of course. Just if they're not happy then there's plenty of advice on this thread.)
Im with BadlyWiredDog. Do some short sharp fast rides once in while, get your heart rate up in intervals.
I do old skool PT training in the park once every couple weeks, but that's because I like it. Shuttle runs interspersed with various versions of press-ups, core exercises, burpees, squats, star jumps etc. Also singlespeed on the road more recently instead of mtbiking because the trails are getting overgrown and muddy due to the amount of rain. Around here it's all undulating lanes so that forces intervals much the same way as mtbiking does. My av. speeds have gone up so something is working. Riding to work 5days a week, brisk 2 mile walk every lunchtime, riding to the shops, an hours yoga session once a week, it all adds up.
High Intensity Training (note - no interval in there) a la Doug McGuff is very appealing. There is a lot of science to back it up, it's safe and working out once a week and still getting all the gains makes it hard to resist.
I've had two bashes at it about 10 years apart and it's definitely not for me. Firstly, I like to workout in the morning and the workouts left me utterly destroyed for the rest of the day. Like really struggling to stay awake in the afternoon. The most recent attempt also sent me into depression. So, never again, for me.
However it might work for you, but for it to work properly you need to be prepared to go to a dark place and become good friends with pain. I don't care if my current training is less effective as I actually enjoy it.
Having said this, there's a lot of value in understanding more about the HIT approach, which places a lot of focus on injury prevention.
Take up running. It will do more for your fitness than cycling will
this - My running got faster when I started riding more, so I ran more and my riding got faster
What worked for me ..is to do hills
and also this - it's easy to cruise (riding or running) on the flats.
I was pretty fit and quick up until I was 45 when I had a really bad RTA (commuting) and got my spine broken. I was doing about 5,000 a year, commuting etc.
Next two years I did about 700, mainly off road, and increased to only 1200 pa for 2018 and 2019. 2020 saw me getting out more (lockdown), and 2021 returned to some road riding, getting my miles upto 2000 then in 2022 2,600 miles with some commuting involved. I'm likely to be around 3,500 to 4,000 this year, baring catching covid (knocked 8 weeks off end of last year).
I'm 53 now and not as fit as I was but managed two 8 hour days MTB'ing along the Pennine Bridleway with some mates. My back causes some issues (bloody lucky I can walk TBH), but I can still ride the road bikes OK. I commute 20 miles return 3 days a week, and then out on road bikes, CX or MTB at least once or twice a week on top of the commute. I never do big miles, so a couple of hours is fine as got stuff to do at home.
Shifting a few KG and cutting down on alcohol and food has certainly helped. I don't tend to eat a lot in the evenings.
Fortunately/unfortunately, the lads I ride with do a bit of everything (road/CX/MTB and commute), but none of us will be getting an e-bike - all prefer to suffer and batter ourselves.
Youtube's your friend @reluctantlondoner.Me,I just use my local outdoor gym and adjust the program as best I can.I usually try to push it till I fail.That seems to be the point of it.
All of the above is YMMV, don’t take anyone here as gospel especially as there are opinions as opposed to advice, you need to find what works for you. Because over 30-ish we have an ever declining body, at our age it’s generally:
- Intervals weekdays
- long Rides at weekends / when you have the time
- stretches and body / weight exercises.
- a higher amount of dietary carbs / good nutrition and lower alchohol content.
Finally, however you chose to define a goal be it racing, an event, general fitness or something else make sure you are enjoying it. Forced training, nutrition and “going without” time, food, beer, friends, family or whatever in the name of “training” can lead to a lot of misery.
I find trundling unsatisfying, if you want to ride short, sharp technical climbs, you need to be able to go anaerobic repeatedly and recover.
Yes - and I can do so from my training consisting of "just ride more miles" because in those miles comes climbs - both long and short.
Good post Kryton
Yes – and I can do so from my training consisting of “just ride more miles” because in those miles comes climbs – both long and short.
Good post Kryton
Yeah, that's the point, there's no 'right answer', it's whatever works for you. There's no prescriptive answer.
What works for me is doing an occasional high intensity interval session alongside my normal riding because I find it makes my other rides more enjoyable and I enjoy hard intervals too. But that's just me. Like I said in my earlier post 'I’m not saying everyone should or must do that, it depends how you’re wired, but personally I find a relatively small time investment makes my unstructured rides a lot more enjoyable.'
Everyone's different, mentally and physiologically, what we have in common is that as we age, we get slower and less efficient, but you can slow the rate at which that happens.
If you're feeling old at just 51 you really need to improve flexibility before you really are old. Try some yoga a couple of times a week . Try different teachers; they all have their preferences so mix it up a bit. It'll do very little for your aerobic capacity but your joints and muscles, without bulking up, will thank you.
Nice thing about current ideas for +50 athletes is that same recipe is supposed to help with longevity and wellbeing in later years. It is not more complicated than doing as much as Z2 as is possible, weekly or once in 10 days a HIT session and strength work through the year. Of course some sensible diet, stress management and good sleep are needed as well.
IMO and IME too much focus on interval work is counterproductive, at first those sessions will provide really good results but that can be just peaking existing aerobic base.
IMO and IME too much focus on interval work is counterproductive, at first those sessions will provide really good results but that can be just peaking existing aerobic base.
Noob gains are awesome though, feels good to rocket the ftp in the early days of training.
But yeah once you're settled it's different. Crushing intervals on the turbo is Big man ting. No one should be doing this on the reg unless they're very motivated and focussed on a performance goal.
It’s hard to argue with TJ for me
Are you sure?
Noticed my lawnmower felt light today.Three cheers for Dr Mcguff.A man of many talents.
Not everyone things Dr Mcguff is the way to righteousness tho'.... you'll only get so far with HIT and no base.
I appreciate this thread is kind of coming to the end of its usefulness but I agree with Kryton's post. The OP has asked the question on a forum so the responses are a mixture of specific training advice, underlying principles and personal experience.
My "top-tip" if the OP wants to get faster is to pick an event that you want to do and then follow a training plan tailored to the amount of hours/week you are willing to commit to it. Personally I like TrainerRoad to generate my plans but there are tonnes of options.
In terms of how to train there are different options (sweet-spot, polarised, 80/20 whatever) but they're all proven to work. If your destination is to get fitter then any of these methods will pretty much get you to that destination near-enough if you commit to them so just pick whichever suits you best.
Whichever you do, the underlying principles are the same and won't change. More volume gets you fitter, proper recovery, nutrition and sleep are required and gradually increasing the load so you don't plateau. Plus, as everyone says, strength and conditioning will really help.
Everything else is just noise or personal preference really. If people don't like doing intervals and prefer riding hilly routes then that's fine but the answer to the question of "what's the most efficient way to get fitter on a bike" is definitely riding properly structured intervals, one way or another.
you’ll only get so far with HIT and no base.
Very much this.
I never really appreciated how much my daily Zone 2 commute (30 minutes each way so 5 hours a week) contributed to my overall fitness and ability to ride my mountain bike for any significant time. I was just going to work and didn't think it was contributing anything. I changed job just under a year ago and my commute is now 10 minutes.
My exercise became purely mountain biking and strength work and now I'm great for up to 1 hour but then I start to feel shit very quickly.
I'm trying to introduce 45 minutes Zone 2 into my daily commute (basically taking a detour on the way home) and hopefully the longer mtb rides will start to become easier.
imo, if you do some mtb or strength work (or both) that's enough intensity work and you don't need to do add extra in.
I do a 200km audax ride every month to qualify for an award called Randonneur Round the Year. Currently 8 months into my fourth year.
This motivates me to get out and do a big ride regularly and the rides tend to be quite sociable and can introduce you to new routes and fuelling stops.
Entry normally costs less than £10 and there are lots of rides all round the country.
https://www.audax.uk/choose-a-ride/calendar-events/
The pace can very from intense to very leisurely. There is a time limit to complete the ride but the lower limit is quite generous.
Obviously one ride per month will not transform your fitness but having a regular monthly target can be good for motivation.
Min 90 min rides on trainer or with power meter in zone two for 80% of your workouts.
Outside of that HiiT or over unders.
12 weeks and you be good.
I'm just 50.
Been sharpening up my fitness in advance of a big trip and I'm mainly just riding more, but putting in a few sprints and climbing efforts.
It's working well and I'm feeling the gainz.