Never Too Old For a Comeback
This past week, after 4 years of retirement, Lance Armstrong made a return to the Tour de France at the age of 38 and finished 3rd.
While he finished behind two much younger cyclists he also finished way ahead of many more.
So how is a retired athlete able to return to their chosen sport and successfully compete against athletes 15 years younger? And how does this relate to you? The answer lies in their fitness program.
They way you train in your 20's is different from the way you train in your 30's, 40's, 50's and so on.
When you are young your body is able to train hard 4-5 days per week and recover in time for the next session.
But, as you age your body is not able to recover as fast and needs more time spent recovering and less time training, such as 4 days of recovery activities and 3 days of training per week.
So what are some strategies for training as you age? 1.
Train 3 days per week.
2.
Focus on total body training.
3.
Do not try to set a new personal best each workout.
4.
Keep your workouts to around 45-60 minutes in duration.
And what are some recovery strategies? 1.
Nutrition becomes more important as you age.
2.
Spend more time warming up.
3.
Always foam roll after a training session and even on non-training days.
4.
Spend 20 minutes each day icing areas were you have aches and pain.
5.
Get regular massage treatments.
6.
Stretch after each training session, even stretching on non-training days is not a bad idea.
7.
Don't push through chronic pain, if it's been hurting rest it and treat it.
By following the above recommendations you will find that it is possible to get into the best shape of you life.
Age is no longer an excuse, if it was how come we are seeing the success of athletes like Lance Armstrong and Dara Torres.
While not everyone is going to be competing in the Tour de France or Olympic Swimming, there is no excuse as to why you couldn't begin to compete on other recreational sports or just get into the best shape of your life.
While he finished behind two much younger cyclists he also finished way ahead of many more.
So how is a retired athlete able to return to their chosen sport and successfully compete against athletes 15 years younger? And how does this relate to you? The answer lies in their fitness program.
They way you train in your 20's is different from the way you train in your 30's, 40's, 50's and so on.
When you are young your body is able to train hard 4-5 days per week and recover in time for the next session.
But, as you age your body is not able to recover as fast and needs more time spent recovering and less time training, such as 4 days of recovery activities and 3 days of training per week.
So what are some strategies for training as you age? 1.
Train 3 days per week.
2.
Focus on total body training.
3.
Do not try to set a new personal best each workout.
4.
Keep your workouts to around 45-60 minutes in duration.
And what are some recovery strategies? 1.
Nutrition becomes more important as you age.
2.
Spend more time warming up.
3.
Always foam roll after a training session and even on non-training days.
4.
Spend 20 minutes each day icing areas were you have aches and pain.
5.
Get regular massage treatments.
6.
Stretch after each training session, even stretching on non-training days is not a bad idea.
7.
Don't push through chronic pain, if it's been hurting rest it and treat it.
By following the above recommendations you will find that it is possible to get into the best shape of you life.
Age is no longer an excuse, if it was how come we are seeing the success of athletes like Lance Armstrong and Dara Torres.
While not everyone is going to be competing in the Tour de France or Olympic Swimming, there is no excuse as to why you couldn't begin to compete on other recreational sports or just get into the best shape of your life.
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