How I Train Differently as a 50+ Masters Athlete
I don't train less because I'm getting older. I train differently.
Ten years ago, I was a very different athlete.
I trained hard. I was motivated. I loved having a challenge to work towards.
But I was also much more likely to believe that more training was better training.
Another run? Why not.
Training on an empty stomach? Fine.
Big night out? I did my best runs on a hangover.
Bad night's sleep? Crack on.
A niggle? It'll probably be alright.
If a session was in the plan, I did the session.
Fast forward ten years and I'm now 51, a masters athlete and what I'd describe as a hybrid athlete.
I run. I lift. I do endurance events. I've competed in HYROX & ATHX, run marathons, ultra marathons and taken on some fairly big physical challenges.
However now I'm probably training more intelligently now than I ever have.
Not because I don't want to work hard - I absolutely do.
But I have a much better understanding of what I'm trying to achieve — and what it takes to keep doing it.
Research on masters athletes supports this approach. Ageing does bring physiological changes, including reductions in muscle mass, strength, power and aerobic capacity, but regular training can substantially attenuate these declines. Masters athletes who continue to train can maintain impressive levels of physical function and performance.
So these are the things I've changed.
1. I don't train fasted
This is probably one of the biggest changes in my approach to nutrition.
I used to think training on an empty stomach was somehow virtuous.
Now, particularly before a quality session, I want to be fuelled.
If I'm going to run hard, lift heavy or spend a couple of hours training, I want to give my body the energy it needs to perform.
That's not to say fasted training is inherently bad. There are circumstances where manipulating carbohydrate availability can have a place in endurance training.
But I'm not training simply to burn calories. I'm training to perform and adapt and that means fuelling the work.
For a masters athlete, this becomes even more important because maintaining muscle and avoiding chronically low energy availability are important considerations as we age. Research on masters athletes highlights energy availability, protein intake and maintaining muscle mass as important nutritional considerations.
My mindset has changed from: "How little can I eat around my training?"
to: "How well can I fuel the training I want to do?"
That's a very different approach.
2. I prioritise my quality sessions
I don't try to make every training session hard. I prioritise the sessions that matter.
For me, that currently means three quality strength sessions:
a deadlift-focused session
a squat-focused session
an upper-body push/pull session
And two quality running sessions:
a tempo, track or other quality run
my long run
Those are my quality pillars. Everything else fits around them.
That's important because I don't want to accumulate fatigue simply for the sake of accumulating fatigue. I want to be able to perform well in the sessions that are going to create the adaptations I actually want.
Strength training has become increasingly important to me. Ageing is associated with losses in muscle mass, strength and power, but resistance training remains one of the key tools we have to counter those changes. Masters athletes shouldn't abandon strength training because they're getting older — quite the opposite.
I don't want to be a good runner who gets progressively weaker.
I want to be strong and fit. That's the hybrid athlete in me.
3. Mobility is now part of my training — and I train power too
Mobility used to be something I'd do when I had time. Now I do something every day.
It might only be five or ten minutes, but I'm much more consistent with it.
And twice a week I include plyometric or power work.
Why? - Because being strong isn't the whole picture.
I want to be able to produce force quickly as well as simply produce force.
Power matters for running, jumping, athletic performance and maintaining physical capability as we age.
Research in older athletes and adults increasingly supports combining strength and power training rather than focusing solely on slow, traditional resistance exercise.
I want to retain Strength.Power.Mobility.Coordination.Endurance.
Not just a good 10K time.
4. I hit my steps target every day
This sounds almost too simple to include in a training strategy.
But it matters.
My structured training sessions are only part of my physical activity.
I also want to move throughout the day.
Walking gives me additional low-intensity activity without turning every day into another training session.
And increasingly, the research around daily movement is showing that you don't need to be an athlete to benefit from simply moving more.
For me, steps are less about hitting some magical number and more about avoiding the "I've done my workout, so now I can sit down for the rest of the day" mentality.
Training is part of an active lifestyle not a substitute for one.
5. I modify training when my body tells me to
This is probably one of the biggest differences between 41-year-old me and 51-year-old me.
Ten years ago: "It's in the programme. I'm doing it."
Now: "What's the purpose of today's session, and how can I achieve that without making something worse?"
If running sprints is irritating a niggle, perhaps I can get a similar high-intensity stimulus from bike sprints.
If one long run is causing problems, perhaps I can split the volume across two shorter runs.
If fatigue is affecting my lifting, perhaps cluster sets allow me to maintain quality without unnecessarily grinding through repetitions.
I'm not looking for excuses not to train. I'm looking for ways to keep training.
This is an important distinction.
Masters athletes can continue to train hard, but experience, injury history and recovery all become important considerations when managing training load. Research suggests that systematic training remains highly beneficial with age, while individual recovery responses need to be considered rather than assuming everyone follows the same trajectory.
My goal isn't to win today's training session.
It's to still be training next month, next year and in another ten years.
6. Food first. Supplements second
I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this one. The supplement industry would have us believe that being a healthy woman over 40 requires a cupboard full of powders, pills and expensive little sachets. I'm not convinced.
For most people, a good diet should do the majority of the work.
Plenty of protein.
Fruit and vegetables.
Quality carbohydrate.
Healthy fats.
Fibre.
Enough food to support your activity.
And a generally balanced, varied diet.
That doesn't mean supplements are useless.
There are situations where they can be genuinely useful. Vitamin D, creatine, protein powder or other supplements may have a role depending on the individual, their diet, training and circumstances.
But they should be supplements — not substitutes for food.
I'm much more interested in what you eat every day than which new supplement you've bought because an influencer told you it will transform your body.
7. Sleep is part of my training programme
I used to treat sleep as what happened after everything else was done.
Now I treat it as part of recovery.
If I want to run, lift, adapt and perform, I need to recover and that means sleeping.
I'm particularly conscious of protecting my bedtime rather than continually pushing it later because there's always something else I could be doing.
I'm not going to tell you that sleep before midnight is magically worth twice as much as sleep after midnight — the evidence doesn't support that simplistic idea.
But going to bed earlier can make it much easier to get enough total sleep.
And sleep deprivation can negatively affect physical and cognitive performance and recovery.
So if I have the choice between another unnecessary hour of scrolling or getting into bed, these days I'm much more likely to choose the bed.
That's not boring. That's training smart.
8. I flex my training week
My training plan is a framework. It isn't a contract.
If I've slept well, feel energetic and everything is moving well, brilliant. Let's train.
If I've had several poor nights' sleep, I'm unusually fatigued or something doesn't feel right, I'll adjust. That might mean:
reducing volume
reducing intensity
changing an exercise
moving a session
replacing a run with another form of conditioning
or occasionally taking a proper rest day
That doesn't mean I use every tired day as an excuse.
There is a difference between "I can't be bothered" and "my body isn't ready for the session I had planned."
The more experience I have, the better I am at recognising the difference.
And that's one advantage of getting older as an athlete:
I know my body better.
9. I deliberately try new events
I love running. But I don't want running to be the only way I challenge myself.
One of the great things about being a masters athlete is that there are so many things you can try: ATHX, Ultras, Hikes, Strength challenges, Cycling, Hybrid events.
Something completely ridiculous that your friends have talked you into !
Different events require different combinations of strength, endurance, power, skill and mental resilience.
They also give you the opportunity to change the training stimulus and, sometimes, give your body a break from repetitive running mileage.
And another benefit - It's fun.
I don't want my entire athletic life to revolve around whether I can still run a marathon at the pace I could ten years ago. I want to find out what else I can do.
10. I train with other people more
This is perhaps the least scientific point on my list but it might be one of the most important.
A social trail run with friends.
A hike with my husband.
A gym session with my boys.
A ridiculous birthday challenge.
A race where the experience is as important as the result.
I've become much more interested in the social side of exercise.
Because fitness isn't just about your VO₂ max, body fat percentage or race time.
It's about what those things allow you to do with your life.
And there is good reason to value the social side of physical activity too. Successful ageing isn't simply about physical performance; researchers have described it as encompassing physical, psychological, cognitive and social functioning.
I want exercise to add to my life, not become another job.
And there's one more thing I've changed...
I train for the person I want to be in ten years' time.
This is probably the biggest mindset shift of all.
When I was younger, I was much more focused on what I could achieve now.
Now I think much more about what I want to preserve.
I want to be strong.
I want to run & have good aerobic fitness.
I want to retain muscle & power.
I want healthy bones.
I want to be able to carry heavy things.
I want to be mobile & able to get up off the floor or up the stairs.
I want to be able to say yes when someone suggests a challenge.
And I want to be doing all of those things in my 60s, 70s and beyond.
That's why I don't see ageing as a reason to stop training hard.
I see it as a reason to train intelligently.
Research on lifelong masters athletes is encouraging. Long-term training can preserve muscle strength, physical function and aerobic capacity remarkably well compared with sedentary ageing.
We can't stop ageing but we can influence how we age.
So, what has actually changed?
I'm not training less because I'm 51.
I'm training better.
I fuel my training, prioritise quality, lift heavy, keep moving.
I adapt when something doesn't feel right. I sleep and respect recovery.
I try new challenges and train with friends.
Because the goal isn't to see how much punishment my body can tolerate.
The goal is to build a body that can keep doing the things I love for as long as possible.
That's what being a masters athlete means to me.
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