Cycling over 40,
done properly.

You can get faster. The decline that gets quoted — roughly 5% of VO2 max per decade in trained masters, against closer to double that in sedentary adults — is the trained athlete's number, and the riders who keep improving live at the good end of it. The work that gets them there isn't more volume or harder intervals. It's polarised intensity distribution, targeted strength twice a week, longer recovery between hard sessions, and protein timed across the day. The training that worked at 30 doesn't work the same after 40, but the right training still produces real gains.

Three things change. One: recovery windows are longer, so two genuinely hard sessions a week beats three almost-hard ones. Two: strength work moves from optional to non-negotiable — a 2025 meta-analysis of 17 studies showed structured strength training improves cycling performance after 40 with no cost to VO2 max. Three: fuelling and protein become load-bearing, at 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg a day, spread across meals, not skipped at breakfast. Most masters riders fall behind because they keep doing what worked at 30 with less recovery and worse fuel. The fix is rarely 'train harder'.

Yes, and it's the most under-done work in masters cycling. After 40 the fast-twitch fibres behind your kick shrink first and shrink hardest — Andy Galpin puts it at 10 to 40% — and endurance riding does almost nothing to protect them. Two strength sessions a week, heavy and fast, single-leg and eccentric-led, directly defends that part of the engine. The 2025 meta-analysis is unambiguous: it makes cyclists faster, with no negative effect on VO2 max.

Most serious masters riders are in the 6 to 12 hour range, and that's plenty if it's structured. The shape matters more than the total: two genuinely hard sessions, the rest easy enough to recover from, two strength sessions, and a deload every three to four weeks. Piling on volume you can't recover from is how riders over 40 stall. Run the Masters Recovery Score if you want to see whether your current load is one you can actually absorb.

It depends on where you're stuck. If you're early in the work, the podcast, the Saturday Spin newsletter and the written guides will take you a long way — they're free for a reason. If you've been at it for years and your FTP has stalled, the Plateau Diagnostic pinpoints which of four common patterns you're caught in. If you want the full system — personalised TrainingPeaks plans, weekly coaching calls, the strength roadmap — Not Done Yet Coaching is the structured paid programme. Not sure which fits? The Find Your Fit quiz is five questions and one specific recommendation.

It's built around the serious amateur and masters cyclist who refuses to accept their best days are behind them — that's the brand identity. The personalised plans, weekly calls with Anthony, the cycling-specific strength roadmap and the recovery and fuelling guidance all assume an athlete training 6 to 12 hours a week with a job, a family, and the recovery profile of an adult, not a 22-year-old. If you want the bespoke version with direct 1:1 access, that's the Inner Circle, by application.