WHO THIS IS FOR
IS THIS YOU?
The rider who fears age has already beaten them
You have noticed you are slower than five years ago and you are wondering whether improvement is still possible or whether decline is inevitable from here.
The late starter who took up cycling after 40
You came to the sport in your 40s or 50s and want to know whether meaningful performance gains are realistic at your age.
THE ROADMAN VIEW
The Roadman view
This is the single most common question Anthony receives from the Roadman audience, and the answer is an emphatic yes — with conditions. The idea that the body falls off a cliff at 40 is one of the most pervasive myths in amateur cycling. Yes, peak physiological capacity declines with age. That is undeniable. But peak capacity and current capacity are two different things, and for the vast majority of amateur riders, there is an enormous gap between the two. A 45-year-old who has been riding for five years at moderate intensity with no plan, no intervals, and no periodisation is operating at perhaps 60-70% of what their body can produce. The headroom is real and substantial.
What changes after 40 is not the ability to improve but the approach required to keep improving. Recovery takes longer — not dramatically, but noticeably. Sleep quality matters more. Nutrition precision matters more. The margin for error on training load shrinks. You cannot absorb five hard sessions a week and expect to adapt the way you did at 28. But three well-placed quality sessions with genuine rest between them? That produces results at any age. Anthony has had guests on the podcast who set personal bests in their late 40s and 50s, and the common thread is not genetics or supplements — it is structured training with intelligent recovery management.
The real danger for riders over 40 is not physical decline — it is the psychological trap of believing improvement is impossible. Once you accept the narrative that age has beaten you, you stop trying to improve, and the decline becomes self-fulfilling. The evidence from exercise science and from the real-world experience of thousands of masters riders says otherwise: if you are willing to train with intention, recover properly, and be patient, you can get meaningfully faster. Not as fast as a 25-year-old with the same genetics, but faster than you are now — and for most of us, that is the only comparison that matters.
EXPERT EVIDENCE
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
- Joe FrielAuthor of Fast After 50; co-founder of TrainingPeaks
The most common reason masters riders slow down is not ageing — it is that they stop training with intensity. They drift into comfortable riding because they assume hard work is no longer appropriate. High-intensity sessions, scaled to recovery capacity, remain the single most effective tool for maintaining and improving performance after 50.
Hear it: The Training Secret To Going FASTER After 40 | Joe Friel - Dr Andy GalpinExercise physiologist, muscle performance researcher
Skeletal muscle retains the ability to adapt to training stimulus well into the 60s and beyond. The rate of adaptation slows, and recovery windows lengthen, but the fundamental mechanisms — mitochondrial biogenesis, capillary density, fibre-type recruitment — all respond to training at any age. The key is maintaining the signal: consistent, progressive overload with adequate recovery.
Hear it: The Science Of Getting Faster After 40 | Dr Andy Galpin
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
DO THIS WEEK
Add two structured intensity sessions per week
Replace two of your weekly rides with structured intervals: one threshold session (2x20 min at 90-100% FTP) and one VO2max session (5x4 min at 106-120% FTP). These sessions provide the stimulus that easy riding alone cannot deliver. Separate them by at least 48 hours to allow adequate recovery.
Prioritise recovery with the same discipline as training
Sleep 7-9 hours per night — this is non-negotiable for masters riders. Monitor resting heart rate and HRV to gauge recovery status. If morning HRV is suppressed or resting HR is elevated by more than 5 beats, swap a hard session for easy spinning. Recovery is not weakness; it is where adaptation happens.
Include strength training twice per week
Perform two 30-40 minute sessions targeting legs (split squats, single-leg press, hip hinges), core (planks, pallof press, dead bugs), and upper body (push-ups, rows). Focus on 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps with moderate load. Strength work preserves the fast-twitch muscle fibres that endurance training alone cannot maintain after 40.
COMMON MISTAKES
WHAT CYCLISTS GET WRONG
MISTAKEAssuming that more volume compensates for a lack of intensity.
FIXRiding 15 hours per week at Zone 2 without any hard efforts produces diminishing returns. Two or three well-executed intensity sessions per week combined with easy riding produces better results than pure volume for time-limited masters riders.
MISTAKECopying training plans designed for 25-year-old competitive cyclists.
FIXMasters riders need more recovery time between hard sessions. Use a 2-on-1-off or 3-on-2-off structure instead of consecutive hard days. The stimulus can be similar in intensity; the spacing must be wider.
MISTAKENeglecting strength training because 'cyclists should just ride'.
FIXAfter 40, muscle mass declines at roughly 1-2% per year without resistance training. Two 30-minute strength sessions per week — split squats, single-leg work, core stability — preserve the muscle and connective tissue that support power production on the bike.
FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
At what age do cyclists start to slow down?
Can you still do VO2max intervals after 40?
How many hours per week should a masters cyclist train?
Is it too late to start cycling at 50?
Do masters riders need more protein than younger cyclists?
Should I take testosterone boosters to improve cycling performance?
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