Episode Details

In this episode of the Athletes Compass podcast, Dr. Peter Reaburn shares practical and science-backed guidance for endurance athletes who want to stay healthy, strong, and competitive well into older age. Drawing from both decades of research and his own experience as a masters athlete, Reaburn explains why strength training becomes increasingly important with age, how muscle mass and power underpin endurance performance, why perceived recovery often feels harder for older athletes, and how flexibility, sleep, protein intake, and smarter intensity distribution all play major roles in longevity. The conversation also explores how athletes can adapt psychologically to changing performance, reduce risk as they age, and continue training with purpose by listening to their bodies and using science wisely

Key takeaways

• Strength training should be a priority for aging endurance athletes, especially to preserve muscle mass and offset sarcopenia.
• Older athletes benefit from periodizing training so that strength and hypertrophy are emphasized farther from competition, with endurance-specific work increasing closer to the goal event.
• Zone 1 and Zone 2 work remain foundational, but strategic high-intensity work can help preserve top-end speed and fast-twitch fiber recruitment.
• Recovery may occur at similar physiological rates to younger athletes, but older athletes often feel more fatigued and need to respect that perception.
• Listening to your body becomes one of the most valuable skills with age, especially when deciding whether to reduce duration or intensity on a given day.
• Flexibility and mobility become increasingly important for performance and injury prevention, especially in areas like the hips, shoulders, and lower back.
• Protein intake matters more as athletes get older, with special emphasis on distributing protein throughout the day and supporting recovery after hard training.
• Leucine was highlighted as particularly useful for muscle repair and regeneration when paired with a strong training stimulus.
• Sleep remains the number one recovery strategy, supported by consistent habits and a cold, dark, quiet sleep environment.
• Excessive volume and too much sustained high-intensity or threshold work may increase cardiac risk in aging athletes, making moderation and recovery spacing more important.
• Training age matters: lifelong athletes, returning athletes, and late bloomers may all need different approaches.
• Staying motivated in older age often requires reframing success, adjusting expectations, and recognizing that every athlete in your age group is facing similar physiological changes

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab