When I was younger in my 20’s it was generally regarded that the body would start detraining after 5 consecutive days without training, now I am approaching 60 does this metric still stand or are the older athletes finding this is happening quicker.
Happens quicker I think. What I notice is coming back to fitness is harder
Every time I get arrested by the police I notice that the detaining time gets longer. Must be police picking on older athletes. On the bright side, when I’m in the slammer I’ve noticed that my detanning time also gets longer. I mean I was in the joint for two weeks in Cabo and hardly lost any of my winter color. Hope that helps!
(pink)
I had a successful year competing last year and chose to “detrain” and rest an injury starting at the end of October. I was absolutely shocked by how much fitness I lost in 6 weeks. I am 46 years old.
To each their own, but I will be very careful about ever taking that long of a break again. I think that I will always intentionally detrain in the late fall and move into a strength building block of training because I think it’s important for a middle age or older athlete, but I will judiciously continue some aerobic and speed work next time. Cycling and swimming weren’t that bad, but coupling 6 or 8 pounds of weight gain with time off of running has felt like starting over.
When Lou Hollander was about 80, he said his training secret was “make sure you go anaerobic every day”. I’m 72, heading to Kona #8 in Oct, and have learned to do something everyday. Ski, swim, hike, bike, run - no such thing as detraining, IMO, just variety. Mt CTL never drops below 80. A “rest” day means I hit the weights for 45’. Don’t know what the rule is, but that’s what’s worked for me over the decades.
Use it or lose it…
This is great advice. Lou was just awesome and pretty muscular guy at 80.
Curious - what ages did you do Konas 1 - 7?
57 59 61 62 65 66 70. Never ran a step until I was 50…
Interesting and VERY impressive . . . mine are at 30 31 32 46 47 51 53 56, and this year at 62. So, I’m trying to maintain and keep it going. YOU are a new hero!
Very impressive results! I have heard (and believe this is the case based on my experience) that staying active is the key whether it is walking, running, swimming, etc. and to try and do something every day etc. and to not just stop training completely for days on end.
The other tidbit of wisdom that I have heard is to not stop running (unless due to injury/illness, etc.). My experience with having to stop running and then starting again is that running fitness is really challenging to build back.
I see the logic in doing something anaerobic every day because that, too, is hard to build back up after a lengthy period of detraining.
Just my .02c.
KK
I live in Calgary and play 6 hours/week of hockey and cross country ski in the winter, until end of Feb, then only swim bike run weights. I love the variety, and chasing after 20 year olds on the ice and it keeps me fit and challenged. It also keeps me mentally fresh for the 10-11k I will end up riding in the year.
JACKPOT… I am 80 going back to Kona for number 8. There are no days off …the one guy nailed it …a down day for me is a swim or a huge walk 10+ miles. If you start taking days off you might as well quit, because you are going to go backward fast. 200 miles of cycling 20 miles of running and a bunch of swimming are my normal weekly numbers. The only difference now is I do not have a set day in the week for a workout I just know I need these numbers. Today was a down day 14.5 mile walk in 85 degree weather. Jack Lalane said use it or lose it boy was he right
As a 61 yo athlete, I am genuinely impressed by your training/lifestyle. Would you be so kind as to share your thoughts on how you deal with injuries? I am truly in awe of your accomplishments, and, God willing, hope to remain competitive and have fun. Injury workaround is becoming something of an art-form for myself.
Injuries you do not want them the older you get…the body does not heal as fast and you may not recover endurance. I find most let anything I say go in one ear and out the other. But these are the really important things to keep in mind if you want to race long course later in life. Weight … you can not be skinny enough…the more weight on your joints the faster they fail. PMW ( perventive maintance workout) keeping the main things strong that you use in triathlon KNEES, SHOULDERS,ARMS, HANDS AND BACK. Workouts should be specific not just going to the gym and lifting weights… speed is still important but endurance trumps that. At Wisconsin last fall I was 49 minutes down after the bike on one of my competitors I ran him down he imploded
Thank you for the reply! as a muscle-bound dude, I am limiting myself, at least for now, to 70.3 distance, as i could not agree more: even 5 lbs of weight gain is indeed a factor on bike time and run tolerability. I have also found that flexibility work allows me to stay in the game. Best of luck in your 2022 endeavors!
I am not quite so dedicated as some who have responded. I race a few times a year. Usually Olympic and HIM, although I have done 3 IMs since turning seventy.
Since sixty I have done lifetime PBs in running and cycling and came close in swimming. Including a HIM PB and a 40k bike PB in an Olympic after seventy.
I start training in February and I stop after the last race of the season (September usually). Normally I wouldn’t ride a bike again until April, although I might do spin classes once a week thru the winter (45mins). I do go to a gym and do some weights, some treadmill running (3 to 5 miles) and some stair climbing/elliptical as the mood seizes me. I don’t swim with a club anymore in the winter, (for a while I trained in an 18m pool, felt like a hamster) and I train in an open air 50m pool in the summer where I do open turns…**:0) **(and sometimes a lake, no turns). I grew up as a swimmer, rode a bike to school and I run like a duck (breast stroke swimmers can’t run)
For years (until Covid) we took a winter holiday in Feb, somewhere “on” or something “by” where there was water and a gym (ships are great for that). Two a day workouts (an hour’ish for each) would be my “mini camp” for a week, That is the start of my season. In the years I do an IM I also take on a trainer, who typically starts 3 - 4 months out. I max out at 12 hours a week
I also stop eating so many cookies and we buy near beer for a while (but real wine) there may be more vegetables, which cheers my wife up no end. She by the way, plays bridge does yoga and pound for pound is in better shape than me.
Your body is amazingly adaptive and has a built in memory. Develop the skill or the level you want and it will get you back there pretty quickly.
There are other things in life, as well.
The other tidbit of wisdom that I have heard is to not stop running (unless due to injury/illness, etc.). My experience with having to stop running and then starting again is that running fitness is really challenging to build back.
KK
Whilst that seems logical my experience was somewhat different. I had to stop running altogether at 68 through overuse injury to a knee but continued with cycling and swimming. Four years later I did a tentative jog of 2km in winter when there was nothing else to do and was surprised that there were no ill effects on my knee. I gradually built up the distance to 10km and whilst I probably slowed compared to previously, I am able to continue running at 73 years of age.
I stopped running four years ago at age 72 (but kept cycling & rowing) because of persistent ankle pain, and I still miss it. Your experience is inspiration to give running another shot. Thanks for the post.
When I was younger in my 20’s it was generally regarded that the body would start detraining after 5 consecutive days without training, now I am approaching 60 does this metric still stand or are the older athletes finding this is happening quicker.
Turned 60 last year, and the biggest thing I have notice that has changed in the last few years is my ability to recover from really deep hard efforts. If I ride, 100km hard, years ago, I could back that up, day after day for a week. No way now - I might be able to get two kinds of rides like that out of a week now!
I agree with others here - use it or loose it. You can say that about individual muscles groups, ranges of motion or fitness ranges. I have a very large endurance/aerobic base, that I have spent 30+ years building up - because I am tapping into that almost daily, it takes a while for that to erode and go away. But really top-end all out efforts - that goes away quicker, because I don’t do that much of that kind of effort any more.
Example: I have not ridden long since last November. 2 - 3 indoor rides a week at a maximum of an hour on the trainer or rollers. But in the last 6 weeks - a lot of cross-country skiing with the longest skis being in the 3 - 3 1/2 hour range. I am in Florida for a few days at a business conference and I knocked out a 100km ride yesterday with a friend at close to 30km/h avg. - and I felt reasonably good on the ride! YMMV