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Midlife Cyclist offers a gold standard road-map for the mature cyclist who aims to train, perform and even race at the highest possible level. Cycling has seen a participation uplift unprecedented in any sport, especially in the 40, 50 and 60-year-old age groups. These athletes are the first statistically significant cohort to maintain, or even begin, genuine athletic performance beyond middle-age. But, just because we can continue to tune the engine into old age, does that mean that we should? And, what do these training efforts do to the aging human chassis? This book answers those questions and offers a guide to those elongating their performance window. This subject goes in layers, so let's deal with it in layers. Overall, yes, exercise is tremendously beneficial for you – tremendously. That's the overall, overarching message. But then, within that, it's more nuanced. If you exercise moderately into middle age and beyond, even into old age, it is unquestionably good for you: the cognitive benefits or cardiovascular benefits, the feel-good benefits, everything is positive. But to exercise moderately – and by that, I mean the kind of exercise that the people we know do – there are question marks. Now, probably when all this washes after longitudinal studies and I do the revision of this book in 20 years time, it will almost certainly be the case that that was good for you. That's my opinion, and I have no evidence of that right now. So the book is taking up the evidence that we do have, looking at all the research conducted, and then on every subject, making an informed judgment. Phil Cavell: author of The Midlife Cyclist However, the best way for cyclists to preserve muscle mass, bone density and hormone levels is through extra resistance training. In your 40s, this is a welcome addition. In your 50s, it becomes crucial enough to replace some riding. But really, the author clearly accomplishes an epic cycle, I couldn't even contemplate putting myself through this, and certainly not without making myself fully aware and prepared in advance of what it actually entails, as she purports to have done. And there's the rub.
Or perhaps my sense of disjointness is because there are some pretty wild leaps here. I didn't find it surprising when she struggled with a night mountain bike ride, the pedestrians on a canal towpath, or main road lorries. But then it leapt to cycling up volcanoes in Costa Rica, and even though she was pointing out how she'd underestimated the challenge, I rather struggled to believe that anyone could really underestimate by that much. I think it was Sean Kelly who said "The difference between amateurs and Professionals is that when an amateur isn't going well he will train harder whereas a pro will rest." Reading this book, you sometimes feel that Cavell doesn’t really buy into his recipe of sensibly balanced training for the midlifer. “I’m the last person you should listen to when it comes to structured training”, he says. Another subtitle says “Lord save us from moderation.” cleats are only for keeping a firm connection to the pedal in a pre-adjusted stance to suit the user’s feet;Cycling is all about being in flexion, so add a sport with more extension, like swimming, running or cross-country skiing, so you don’t get hunched,” suggests Cavell. I didn’t fall victim to coming to the defense of virtual cycling when thoroughly enjoying Mr. Cavell’s book, either. As I enter my 6th decade of ‘Midlife’ I have evolved, finding greater merit in the virtues of education over instigation. A review in BMC Medicine revealed that, because cycling is not weight-bearing, riders have a higher risk of low bone density.
And we no longer metabolise alcohol efficiently, so drinking a lot in your 60s is not a great idea. You need to think about your inflammation burden – through stress and training – much more carefully as well.” What changes should I make? For many cyclists, age is this threatening big cloud, so even clients in their 40s get an ache and think: am I on the scrap heap?” says Roberts. bike fitting makes good sense for every regular cyclist because the body adapts in potentially damaging ways to an unsuitable bike; I know many midlife cyclists who do, and I hope you find out, Mr. Cavell. I feel bad that there are things you don’t know about virtual cycling and are missing out on something great.Age-related muscle loss affects Type 2 ‘fast-twitch’ muscles more than Type 1 ‘slow-twitch’ muscles, which means you are now better suited to endurance rides than harder sessions. But aim for a blend of the two. I am not a pro and I get the greatest enjoyment from sharing the experience, sacrificing for myself and those I race with, and setting a positive example. You may endure a loss of motivation, disrupted sleep and stress. “This impacts on performance and can lead to niggling injuries. Women also become more insulin-resistant, resulting in weight gain.” The impact will cause the body to produce more muscle and bone mineral,” explains Cavell. “It will also aid weight control, along with your low-intensity rides, which burn fat.”
That’s not to say I’m anti-data – my job as a thoroughly modern bikefitter requires fluency in its language and application – but technology is something that we at Cyclefit have adapted and bent to our will, rather than something that we inherently venerate or rely upon. For me, technology is a case of ‘wouldn’t this be nice?’ rather than one of ‘I just can’t cope without it’. A camera that fires at 60 frames per second (fps) versus the human eye, which routinely works at 10-12fps, can be mighty handy when looking at a client’s complicated and confused ankling patterns. But arguably more important is a deep knowledge of their personal injury history, rehab and plausible motor-patterning compensations. Actually, to tell the truth I am a little bit anti-data. Or at least I’m anti data for data’s sake. Numbers are meaningless unless we pipe in It would say try and look at a broader basket of metrics other than just FTP, (functional threshold power). I would say enjoy your cycling, enjoy how you increase your performance: how you climb, how you descend, how pleased you feel on the bike, how much you enjoy cycling. Both men and women may feel weaker on the bike, with strength declining by 30 per cent from age 50 to 70. Would I push myself to that brink of physical shutdown, either in training or competition, at my current age of 58? If the answer is ‘no’, then where is the line that I will not cross and what is its intellectual underpinning? If the answer is ‘yes’, and I should push the performance envelope without regard to age, then am I risking injury or even death?”
The 70s: how is my body changing?
The bike is quite flattering as it is low loading, but sitting on your turbo trainer at 350 watts for 20 minutes does nothing for bone density or muscle mass,” says Cavell. You will certainly feel a lot stiffer after rides. “In your 50s, your joints, tendons and ligaments get less flexible,” says Roberts. “The discs in the spine also dehydrate, so they become less gooey and cushioned. You may feel less flexible and be at risk of more injuries.” First, the bad news. As we grow older, in addition to our declining senses (eyes, ears) we must also contend with reducing muscle fibre, hormones and bone density. Not everything goes down: our blood pressure, cholesterol levels and body weight, for example, move right on up. But our heartbeat max takes a drop and, as if all this wasn’t bad enough, our very cells just don’t work as well as they used to. Atrophy. The MidLife Cyclist‘s discussion of heart health was particularly timely for me. I had a serious dehydration experience about a month ago, literally while I was reading the chapter on heart conditions. Getting some depth of understanding about what might be going on in my chest helped me feel more at ease. It also motivated me to make a doctor’s appointment. Why worry, when you can get answers and move on with your life?
One of those being why midlife female athletes seem to be better protected against heart disease. Why is that? I hypothecate with the help of cardiologists, but it is still not fully known. You talk to Nigel Stephens, a leading cardiologist and an extremely good masters racer in the book. And to paraphrase him, he broadly says that cycling, even at a high level, will give you improved heart and lung capacity at the risk of broken bones. But that's something that you have to weigh up yourself. Which, I guess, is a pretty good summary of it, isn't it? Fat burning by riding for miles and miles won’t always work in your 40s, because of (underlying) hormonal change. You need to add strength training to help counter the insulin resistance.” To be honest, I would answer, “Absolutely. Better.” I am able to race with family members and friends watching the entire event on Livestream or standing beside me. Feeling everything I feel. I can let them know what I am thinking, feeling, my passion.Resistance training also supports testosterone production, as does eating zinc-rich food such as red meat, poultry, beans, nuts and seafood, and topping up your Vitamin D levels. A true renaissance man of modern cycling, Mr. Cavell utilizes a holistic approach to bike fit, harnessing the entropic variability of athlete vs. machine and making the analytic an art. Remember, Dr Baker is going out of his way to point out that if you feel good, you should not increase the intensity, meaning no more watts or a higher heart rate, but instead add in a rep or two. Going too deep or too hard will increase the required recovery time and may lead to fatigue. If you assume your real (not inflated) FTP is 250, then your hard sessions using the Dr Baker algorithm will be 250 x 105-110% x 4-6 (8-10 minute) reps. This means that you'll be working at between 262 and 275 watts during those 8-10 minute reps. This isn’t going bonkers and sending your systems haywire — it’s a controlled elevation of training stimulus.
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