Oldies – at what age did you notice your fitness tailing off

From racing and seeing others in that 40-60 block I don’t think there’s much in it 45-55 on average – see some animal-strong testers in their mid 50s. But as you hit late 50s things must start to slow up. Some v60+ riders can mix it in a v40 race but they are exceptional.

I’ve not hit a really significant power drop yet from 40-50, but training is trending towards getting / feeling harder for the same sort of condition. Biggest raw difference is eyesight for me – having not needed glasses this is now noticeable on night rides and harder MTB descents.

51 and I feel but don’t look just as good as I did when I was younger. Waiting to start the decline…

“I’ve a mate who is 60. Starred riding a few years ago to help his core strength. Has retired and become an absolute weapon.”

Yeah you can still be pretty decent but….

Eg the world record for a Vet60 marathon is 2:30. Now, that’s still amazing, but the open record is half an hour quicker.

56 here. Yes, I’ve noticed the drop-off in the last 2-3 years. In our riding group (everyone is 6-15 years younger than me), I always used to be probably 2nd/3rd quickest up a climb, but latterly, I feel I struggle more obviously.

I’m essentially a ‘just go riding’ type of person so never do any structured training etc, and I think that starting to come home to roost a little bit. So, my fitness/stamina is good, but top end/strength less so. I do notice the benefits when I think a bit more seriously about sleep/rest/diet/core & stretching, but essentially, I just enjoy riding my bike too much to give serious structured time to other aspects that would offset my age.

Theres a bloke in our local running club, I think late 60’s. Hes really makes a big thing about he runs for team GB.

I get its good, but there are only about 3 blokes in his age group. So are they fit or just who is left standing ?

Recovery is definitely age-related. Yesterday was a rest day after 2x 100km rides, Sunday’s was in a TT position at 12hr pace (200W). Needed the rest and body (especially neck and sinuses – thank you COVID) were showing the signs of inflammation and aching. Tonight is club night (fast pace), and tomorrow will be light commuting.

A few weeks ago I rode a Vets and Ladies SQT track training session, and when leading a pace line was ask to go a more gently for one of the riders. She is a lovely lady, small, looked great on a bike, and based on pace, you’d have never guessed she’s in her 70’s!

I don’t think actual age is the key factor. Lifestyle and life changes, more non bike time ? I changed jobs at 53 and couldn’t commute any longer, and don’t get nearly as many miles. If I was still commuting I think I’d be still as fit ? (58 now)

^^This^^ I’m only 44 but I definitely noticed a decline in the last couple of years, precipitated by being busier with work and kids plus CV19 and all the upheaval that caused, lots of friends with sedentary lifestyles and work environments seem to think this is ‘normal’ and I should just accept it.
Bollox to that! new year, new me and all that and I’ve made a concerted effort to be more regularly active over the last couple of months and I’ve just started to notice some level of fitness coming back, I seem to be able to do a bit more, at a higher work rate than I could back in December. I also seem to be recovering from efforts better now too.

The things that matter matters more as you get older is rest in-between activities, being boring and getting more sleep in, and being more attentive to aches and pains being prepared to take it easy when appropriate to avoid an injury rather than ‘push through’ as recovering from muscle pulls/strains seems to take me much longer now than it used to.

I now realise 17 year old me was bloody amazing in terms of physical capacity, but he was way more active, had very few commitments and didn’t own a car.

Fitness can definitely be brought back, but it’s not a rapid thing, needs concerted, long term effort and most importantly some spare time.

54. Started to really feel it a couple of years ago (when I started to take statins). Its kind of gradual though. I was probably the fittest I’ve ever been in mid to late 40’s though.

My mate retired a couple of years ago, and now rides much more. He’s never been as fit or as good on the bike as he is now at 59.

Didn’t start cycling properly until my late 30’s. Probably peaked in early 50’s but that was down to race training. Late 50’s was just recreational cycling so fitness dropped. During lock down rode loads and lost weight so had a go as a v60 when things opened up. Nearly got back to where I was but not quite. 64 now and just riding around, lost fitness very quickly and my body is telling me I’ll never get back to where I was 10 years ago 🤷‍♂️

55 and think of myself as fit (Garmin says my VO2 max is 50, which is apparently above average). Did my first ever crit races in the over 50 category, the year before last and got dropped in each race! There are some seriously fit over 50s who can keep over 50km/h for some distance. If you lose the peloton at that speed you are just not getting back on.

Biggest thing I notice is lack of sustained high power (eg. 500w for ramps on climbs or peloton surges)  and recovery times are much longer. Mostly happened in the last 2 years.

seriously fit over 50s who can keep over 50km/h for some distance

There’s plenty of doping in the 50+’s 😉 . Notably on the continent in the Gran Fondo scene. But everyone gets dropped in their first race series. It’s the coming back for more and hanging on that is rewarding. I was dropped in my first Track League this season, probably race inexperience and some fitness, but am now a bunch contender (in the lowly C group anyway).

Garmin says my VO2 max is 50, which is apparently above average

Not something I’d ever looked at, but mine also says 50 and states “superior” and “top 5% for age and gender”.

Is VO2 Max age related?

Nearing 50 and my fitness is not dropping due age – just that recovering from injuries takes forever which reduces amount of exercise.

After 50 noticed that I can’t just go out and blast and not suffer the consequences any more.  Also have to pay attention to getting the miles in if I want to be staying in shape.  Some stretching doesn’t go amiss either

Fell off a cliff at 60 – but Covid and Lyme in the same year may not be a coincidence.

 I do think regular hard, high heart rate 1 to 2 hour efforts are really beneficial as you get older. I tend to do these rather than loads of Z2 plodding (although that’s good occasionally). Can be horrible at the time but feel great after. Maybe helps avoid muscle wastage?

I think it’s more VO2 Max stuff tbh. Retaining muscle mass is really down to weight or other resistance training. Even low cadence and high intensity intervals on the bike are, in muscular terms anyway, endurance and neuromuscular to an extent. Say you ride for ten minutes at a cadence of 50 rpm, that’s 500 reps. If you did a set of 500 bench presses or power cleans you wouldn’t think that was strength training.

The Friel book is really interesting on outlining a lot of this stuff. Obviously there are genetic differences and individual stand-outs. Round here, you get used to occasionally having Nick Craig – in his early to mid-50s and still competitive in elite races – floating effortlessly past you on some hideous, rocky steep while you’re breathing out of your proverbials, but the basic take on top-end power as you age is that if you don’t use and train it, you lose it.

Round here, you get used to occasionally having Nick Craig – in his early to mid-50s and still competitive in elite races – floating effortlessly past you on some hideous, rocky steep while you’re breathing out of your proverbials, but the basic take on top-end power as you age is that if you don’t use and train it, you lose it.

He has a huge aerobic engine, never had much top end (self confessed), so will show less age related decline than someone who relied on anaerobic top end to be quick.

He’s also ridiculously skilled, tried following his wheel in XC races years ago and just couldn’t manage it, he was just so smooth and always picked nice lines. Plus he had about 150W on me…

Probably peaked when i did LEJOG at 52 but covid came along at 56.  I have always been a particularly reluctant trainer and used a gym membership to keep the fitness (and motivation) topped up, so covid induced longer hours WFH (new to me) and lack of gym activity totally wiped out my already diminishing levels of energy.  As others have noted it’s not the hit endurance but power which s most noticeable and I have gone from first up a hill to tail end charlie.

Not something I’d ever looked at

Took me a little while to find this but mine also says I have a fitness age of 20.
😂What a crock o shite that is.

With me it was when I got my ebike I started to lose top end, even though I was riding more. I got a gravel bike a couple of weeks ago and I’ve done a lot of rides and am getting a lot fitter.

What did it with me was I was standing on the beach in Gran Canaria about 6 weeks ago, feeling annoyed at having been so crap windsurfing that day and I realised that I had to choose between letting the activities go, or do something and get my fitness back. It helped that I was there with 2 guys who’d given up drinking (just for fitness, not the “other thing”) and were enjoying it more than they expected.

So I’ve cut right down on the booze (Guinnes zero, Doom Bar 0% and Asahi 0% all excellent!) which also means I don’t need to get a taxi back from the pub and I’m heading in the right direction. I’m lighter too, which at age 70 isn’t a bad thing.

I’m not quite 50 yet but have succumbed to a couple of surgeries in the last year – knee meniscus and also an insertional achilles op – the latter of which made the problem worse. And I have a second surgery scheduled to hopefully fix it.  So I have not been able to train anywhere near as hard, I can no longer run – and also had to take chunks of time out to recover.  I can do a bit on the bike but there’s cycling…and then there’s proper cycling. I am not able to do anything meaningful at the moment.

My fitness is well down – even though the will is still there and want to race again. But it does feel incredibly depressing and like the body is telling me to give it up. First time I have missed a whole winter of racing.

@singlespeedstu

That is a lot better than my fitness age which is only 10 years younger than actual age.

IMO keeping going is as important, and rewarding, as being at peak fitness.

But WAVA scores for running are a useful motivation/measure too. There are vet standards for cycling TTs which sere a similar purpose. You can aim to get older quicker than you get slower 🙂

Knees and injury recovery are an issue at 57, but general fitness? Knocked out 82km/1500+m climbing today on a loaded MTB to where I am now in a small tent. Feel fine, not sure I’d have been that much faster 10 years ago.

58 here. retired now so i ride most days, but slowly.

a long period of ill health from 45 to 55 put paid to all my fitness.

2 heart surgeries, a hip replacement and a ankle fusion all took their toll.

But i ride more than ever now, slowly, but for longer and further.

regular 50 milers are enjoyed, regular tours are enjoyed and the odd event still ridden. just done the winter jennride, and the fat viking in norway.   all good.

i have just moved the goalposts re my fitness aims.

I’m 60.. the riding hasn’t changed, but the ability to drink the night before has.    Evan a few beers and Im finished next day.  Have to look after me body more than I used to ten years ago.

I’m 43

Got a new mountain bike last year which has really given me the impetus to ride and my fitness improved lots, although I have ridden a bit less over the winter.

I’ve never been one for stats or gadgets, like hardtailonly above I just ride when I can and measure my fitness on whether I can ride up certain hills, and how much it hurts, or how far ahead/behind I am compared to others.

For instance if I can reach the top of Beacon Batch without stopping or dying, then I know I’m doing ok. I’ll need to wait for a dry-ish week for my first attempt this year. 🤞

Getting the new bike was all about fitness and I’ve ridden more in the past year than in the previous 5 or even 10 years.

I just became aware (due to aging friends/parents) that staying fit and healthy now is going to pay off when I’m 50 and beyond. I’m not looking to get superfit but just maintain it so I can continue to enjoy riding for as long as possible.

For me at 56 it’s difficult to gauge, sure I’m nowhere near as fit as I was at my fittest but I’m doing ok. But I measure myself against (mostly) people who are younger then me or at a similar age ride a whole lot more than I do.

What I would say for sure is, if I have an accident or an illness that keeps me from exercising for several weeks (Or longer like when I broke my collar bone 7 years ago), the recovery time is a lot longer and I’m not totally sure If I regain the level of where I was before the accident or illness.

Fitness? Yeah, I need more. Always have.

Always Another Adventure has some great videos on age and fitness.

He has a huge aerobic engine, never had much top end (self confessed), so will show less age related decline than someone who relied on anaerobic top end to be quick.

There’s a hilarious GCN video where Simon Richardson visits Nick Craig and asks for his advice on staying competitive as you age. What follows is a master-class in understated sand-bagging with Nick claiming he doesn’t do any structured training, just rides around the local trails in zone 2 with an occasional impromptu hilly tech ride to top-up his higher-end power.

Watching it, you’d think he’s a laid-back, cheery old cove who enjoys knitting and crocheting rather than one of the most competitive British mountain bike racers of all time.

Oh, the aerial shots of him floating up various quite challenging local mountain bike climbs on his cross/gravel bike are also mildly amusing. A good watch, but I’m not sure how useful it is in terms of readily transferrable learnings.

That is a lot better than my fitness age which is only 10 years younger than actual age.

Mine is too, but I look on it as comparing me to a bloke 10 years younger doing the same activities as me, not your average bloke 10 years younger.

Rational.  I ride with folk from their 20’s thru to my age (59) and have no problem at all keeping up with most of them, even on a heavy enduro and/or all-day ride – in fact once the ride gets out past 4-5 hours many of them are keeping up with me 🙂

Stu’s Fitness Age of 20 seems odd (pretty sure we met at Ladhope a year or two back?)  Stu, do you wear your watch 24/7 and has it got the correct age/weight/gender set up?

Just asking as the others I ride with who have Garmin Watches are all pretty consistent with minus 8-10 years for their Fitness Age.

Actually watching that again, it’s not un-useful at all.

I definitely took a dip when I turned 60 – largely psychological, but not helped by a nasty crash, and some BP issues that all teamed up to seriously get inside my head. I’ve since joined a gym, lift weights three times a week, backed up by regular stretching and mobility/stability work. I don’t doubt that I’m slower than I was 20 years ago, but I feel stronger and more agile than I have for a while, plus the wife appreciates the reappearing muscle tone 😀 I think the key is to accept that you’re an ageing athlete, and work with what you’ve got for as long as you have it.

I’ve also started following this guy on YouTube – https://youtu.be/o65kSEnLU3o?si=SqgroBADnYbp2bp-

Garmin changed their fitness age thing a while back. Used to say 20 for everyone with a modicum of fitness. Not sure if it’s only newer watches, but my current one (Venu 2) uses the new algorithm that seems to essentially subtract a bit from actual age depending on various metrics.

^ this

If I’m ticking all of the boxes then Garmin subtracts 10 years off my actual age.

I reckon my natural fitness peaked at about 25/26 years old. I only started mountain biking in my 30’s as a way to exercise. I’m in my 60’s now and can still ride for hours.

64 in April.
Probably felt fittest and certainly had my stamina peak at around 57.
Rest time following a malignant melanoma scare at 58 and neuralgia issues following Covid haven’t helped. Now suffering with Moreton’s Neuroma in right foot which doesn’t help with my hillwalking especially down hill over stony ground or on tarmac treks back to the van. This also means that long climbs on the singlespeed get a bit uncomfortable too, so, geared bike gets used more. Also now reaping the rewards of damaged knees and worn out ankles from years of windsurfing and associated injuries.Happily still going as much as I can when I have time, but also wishing I’d planned an early retirement. Maybe a touch of winter blues right now, but definitely just over the hill !

Interesting post. Sounds like I have at least 10-15 more years of good riding in me if I stay injury free and look after myself. I’ve spent the start of this year trying really hard to look at my riding differently. Not trying to always go a bit further a bit faster than before. My aim this year is simply to ride more. Most of my flat road rides are in Z2 for me and I hope this is the base of getting fitter over the year. I’m already quite a bit ahead of where I was last year, although that wasn’t much!

Tried to cycle to work yesterday down the same route that I used to do 5 days a week. Still fit into all my gear but something has happened to my fitness when I hit 40. Took me about 15-20 mins longer in each direction, and what was zone 2 is now top end of z4 as a minimum.

Going to have to ease back into that if I want to pick it up again. Not sure Mrs P would be keen on me rolling in at 7 again though, need an e-bike.

uses the new algorithm that seems to essentially subtract a bit from actual age depending on various metrics.

I think it entirely makes it up. By which I mean; I’m sure there’s an algorithm behind the number, how based in actual reality that is, is I think, moot. My Garmin thinks my fitness age in 23, but if I do all the things it wants to increase my V02 max (- the most I’ve ever moved the dial is 1 point), it makes little sense to then say, “Oh, you’re now as fit as a 22 year old, congrats…”