Here’s what we can learn from three only chronologically old athletes. All three are relatively late bloomers.
Nonagenarian
At 93 the Irishman Richard Morgan is a four-time world champion in indoor rowing (winning in 2007, 2017, 2021, and 2022). He’s the subject of a study physiological characteristics published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Morgan didn’t begin exercise training for sports until he was 73. Retired, he attended a rowing practice with one of his grandsons, a competitive collegiate rower. After trying one of the machines at the practice he’d found his new activity. He trains primarily in his backyard shed. He weighs 165 pounds composed of about 80 percent muscle and 15 percent fat.
In the lab he raced a simulated 2,000-meter time trial while they monitored his heart, lungs and muscles. His heart rate peaked at 153 beats per minute, well above the expected max heart rate for his age and among the highest maximums recorded for someone in their 90s. His heart rate rose very quickly to rapidly supply his working muscles with oxygen and fuel. These “oxygen uptake kinetics,” are a key indicator of cardiovascular health and his are comparable to those of a typical, healthy 30- or 40-year-old.
Lessons
- Consistency: Every week he rows about 30 kilometers (about 18.5 miles), averaging around 40 minutes a day. You can read more in this column:
- A mix of easy, moderate and intense training: About 70 percent of his workouts are easy. Another 20 percent are at a hard but tolerable pace. The final 10 percent are high intensity. You can read more in this column on:
- Weight training: He weight trains twice a week with dumbbells completing three sets of lunges, rows, and curls doing each exercise close to (or at) failure. These exercises train the specific muscles used in rowing. You can read more in this column:
- A high-protein diet: He eats significantly more protein than the usual dietary recommendation for someone of his weight. The protein supports his very high muscle mass. You can read more in this column on:
- Injury-Free: As a result of the first three lessons, in 20 years of training and racing he’s never been injured. You can read more in this column:
Octogenarian
In 2019 83-year old Joe Shami, of Lafayette, CA climbed Mount Diablo for the 500th consecutive week. Diablo (3,849 ft.) is at sea level about 40 miles east of San Francisco, CA. Most of the 11-mile climb averages 8 percent with sections of 10-12 percent. “The wall” the final stretch to the top is 17-19 percent.
Lessons:
- Start now: Shami was 57 when he started riding seriously in 1992 and was 73 when he started his weekly climbing routine.
- Enjoy the ride. Shami didn’t get bored because every ride he looked around and noticed all the small changes. Diablo isn’t forested so he could look to the horizon.
- Recovery: As you mature ride less and recover more.
- Be consistent. Unfortunately as we mature we lose fitness faster if we don’t ride. Even if you haven’t set a goal like his, ride every week except for three or four different weeks a year off the bike. These weeks off the bike with family and friends provide full physical and mental recovery.
- Ride frequently. Because we lose fitness faster as we mature you should also ride at least three or four days a week … but not all seven!
- Have confidence in yourself. Shami believed he can climb it every week.
- Commit to achieving a goal. Don’t just set a goal for 2024 – commit to reaching it.
You can read more here: Anti-Aging: You’re Only as Old as You Think
Centenarian
Robert Marchand, a 105-year-old cyclist, set a world record by riding 22.547 km (14 miles) in one hour on January 4, 2016. He rode on the track of the Velodrome National, a state-of-the-art venue used to host the elite of track cycling in Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France.
This was not Marchand’s first record. In February 2012, he set the world one-hour record in the over-100 age group at 24.250 kilometers (15.068 miles). He improved this record to 26.927 km (16.732 miles) in January 2014. He also holds the record for 100 kilometers in his age group. In September 2012 on the track in Lyon he rode 100 km (62.5 miles) in four hours and 15 minutes, averaging just over 23 km per hour.
Marchand is also a late bloomer. He cycled when he was younger; however, he was told by a coach that he should give up cycling because he would never achieve anything on a bike. After a busy life working in various physical jobs, he started cycling again at age 68.
Marchand passed away at age 109 and continued to ride 20 minutes a day until about a week before his death.
Lessons:
- Consistency: After his latest record ride he said, “No, I’m not tired. I thought my legs would hurt. When you are old like me you never stop for too long. If you stop for too long you just won’t be able to get going again. Every morning you need to do something. Maybe four or five kilometers.”
- Atrophy: “You must always train your muscles, because if you don’t they will become lazy.” As we age, our muscles atrophy. Use it or lose it.
- Full Body Exercise: He goes to the gym and stretches daily.
- Years of Cycling: He has a big heart that pumps a lot of blood, which comes from 37 years of cycling — he started cycling in 1978!
- Pacing: While riding, he keeps his heart rate at a steady 110 bpm.
- Healthy On-the-Bike-Nutrition: After his record ride three years ago, he joked, “With doping I could have ridden faster. But there is no doping. I only have water with some honey in my bottle here.” While riding, he consumes the two essential nutrients: water and carbohydrates.
- Healthy Diet and Lifestyle: He eats a lot of fruits and vegetables, doesn’t drink too much coffee, doesn’t smoke and drinks just an occasional glass of wine.
- Healthy Weight: He is 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall and weighs just 115 pounds (52 kilograms).
- Adequate Recovery: As we get older it takes longer to recover, which is one of the primary indicators of physiological aging. Marchand cycles daily with no recovery days! However, he gets plenty of rest. He goes to bed at 9 p.m. and wakes up at 6 a.m.
In short, he’s an inspiration for every cyclist. “I’m not here to break any record,” he said. “I’m doing it to prove that at 105 years old you can still ride a bike. You can read more here: Anti-Aging: Fit for Life 105 Isn’t Old
The researchers’ conclusions about the 93-year-ld Richard Morgan apply to all three of these athletes and to us as well: These remarkable findings “ may serve to highlight the plasticity of cardiopulmonary and respiratory functional capacity, even in persons of advanced age, when supported by sufficient exercise stimulus. Moreover, well-developed physiological characteristics, i.e., pulmonary function, VO2 max, and maximum power … were observed, providing further support to the premise that exercise training may counteract aging-dependent impairments across a range of systems.” (Emphasis added)
Resources
My eBook Anti-aging 12 Ways You Can Slow the Aging Process has chapters on:
- Physiology of aging
- American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendations and how to meet them on aerobic, high intensity aerobic, strength training, weight-bearing exercises, balance and flexibility.
- Endurance riding including sample weeks and months for riders of different levels
- Long ride plans to build up to 100 km and 100 mile rides. I include
- Annual miles sample plan to increase over two years your annual riding.
- Intensity training – not for everyone!
- Strength training including an illustrated program using things you have around the house.
- Stretching including an illustrated program
- Weight bearing and balance exercise
- Motivation
The 106-page eBook Anti-aging 12 Ways You Can Slow the Aging Process is $14.99
My 3-article bundle Cycling Past 50, 60 and Beyond includes:
1. Peak Fitness 39 pages Contains four specific programs to improve your fitness in one or more of the following ways:
- Improved endurance
- More power
- Faster speed
- Higher aerobic capacity (VO2 max)
2. Training with Intensity 27 pages Doing the correct hard riding slows the aging process and delivers an array of benefits at any age:
- More efficient training
- Stronger heart
- Greater lung capacity
- More powerful muscles
3. Fit for Life 34pages Exercise options to strengthen your body’s functions that keep you fit for life, including your aerobic, skeletal, muscular, neural, core and balance systems.
The 100-page bundle Cycling Past 50, 60 and Beyond is only $13.50.
Coach John Hughes earned coaching certifications from USA Cycling and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. John’s cycling career includes course records in the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200-km randonnée and the Furnace Creek 508, a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) qualifier. He has ridden solo RAAM twice and is a 5-time finisher of the 1200-km Paris-Brest-Paris. He has written over 40 eBooks and eArticles on cycling training and nutrition, available in RBR’s eBookstore at Coach John Hughes. Click to read John’s full bio.
Greg says
To be an athlete in your 80s, 90s and 100s you train frequently and vigorously. But if you didn’t inherit good genes, all the training you do may not make a difference. Genetics play an important role in surviving to 100.