As athletes age, maintaining peak performance becomes more challenging. Recovery slows, resilience decreases, and training methods that once worked may no longer be effective.
Chris Hinshaw, a world-class endurance coach and the aerobic capacity expert for CrossFit HQ, has worked with over 50 podium-level athletes.
His insights shed light on how Masters athletes—those over 35—can train smarter to slow down aging, maintain strength, and stay competitive.
Chris Hinshaw, a world-class endurance coach and the aerobic capacity expert for CrossFit HQ, has worked with over 50 podium-level athletes.
His insights shed light on how Masters athletes—those over 35—can train smarter to slow down aging, maintain strength, and stay competitive.
Jump to:
How Aging Affects Athletic Performance
Aging is inevitable, but its impact on athletic performance can be managed with the right approach. According to Hinshaw, one of the biggest differences between younger and older athletes is their ability to retain fitness.
“If I get injured and I’m out for 12 weeks, I start from zero,” Hinshaw explains. “Younger athletes retain their fitness longer, but Masters athletes lose it much faster.”
Several physiological changes contribute to this decline:
- VO2 max, the body’s ability to utilize oxygen, drops 1% per year after age 34. This means endurance and overall aerobic capacity naturally decrease over time.
- Muscle atrophy, particularly in fast-twitch fibers, leads to slower movement and shorter stride lengths. Research shows stride length can decrease by up to 50% between the ages of 40 and 70.
- Maximum heart rate declines by about one beat per year. This reduction affects endurance and recovery, making it harder to sustain high-intensity workouts.
“You only have so many steps,” Hinshaw recalls being told by basketball legend Bill Walton. “And as you age, you have to make each step count.”
Training Smarter: Key Strategies for Longevity
While age-related declines are inevitable, they can be slowed down. Hinshaw emphasizes that the right training approach can help Masters athletes retain strength, endurance, and resilience well into their 50s and beyond.
1. Maintain Intensity While Adjusting Volume
Masters athletes often assume they need to reduce intensity as they age. However, Hinshaw argues that intensity should remain high, while volume should be adjusted to prevent overuse injuries.
“You don’t need to take a long break after competition,” he says. “Instead, you should shift into maintenance mode—move at a lower intensity, work on structure, and prepare your body for the next phase.”
Taking weeks off can lead to loss of fitness, making it harder to regain strength and endurance. Instead of stopping completely, Hinshaw recommends active recovery through low-impact movements like swimming, cycling, or rowing.
2. The Role of Zone 2 Training: Avoiding Common Mistakes
Zone 2 training—low-intensity, steady-state cardio—is a popular topic in endurance sports. However, many athletes approach it incorrectly.
“Most people turn their Zone 2 workouts into a progressive workout where their heart rate drifts up,” Hinshaw explains. “That’s not Zone 2—that’s defeating the purpose.”
Zone 2 training helps build mitochondrial density, allowing muscles to generate energy more efficiently. But if heart rate creeps too high, the body starts recruiting fast-twitch fibers, shifting the workout away from endurance development.
To do Zone 2 training correctly:
- Keep heart rate steady throughout the session.
- Avoid increasing speed to maintain effort—if heart rate rises, slow down.
- Choose low-impact modalities like cycling or rowing if running causes excessive heart rate spikes.
“Your brain recruits the minimum number of slow-twitch fibers it needs at first,” Hinshaw explains. “But as you fatigue, it brings in new ones. If you rush the process by increasing intensity, you never train those original fibers to recover and get stronger.”
3. Strength Training: Prioritizing Power Over Volume
Loss of muscle mass is one of the biggest challenges for aging athletes. Hinshaw stresses that heavy lifting is crucial for Masters athletes—not just for strength, but for maintaining power and mobility.
“You need to maintain explosive power,” he says. “I’m not talking about bodybuilding—I’m talking about Olympic lifts and heavy strength work.”
Lifting heavy helps preserve fast-twitch muscle fibers, which naturally decline with age. It also supports joint stability, reducing the risk of injuries that can sideline older athletes.
4. Finding Balance to Prevent Burnout
Many competitive Masters athletes push too hard year-round, leading to burnout and chronic fatigue. Hinshaw shares the experience of a CrossFit Games competitor who won the title in 2019 but found himself exhausted the following year.
“He was technically in the fittest shape of his life, but he felt completely drained,” Hinshaw recalls. “It wasn’t until he switched to triathlon training in the off-season that he realized how much he needed a break.”
By incorporating low-impact endurance training with structured strength work, the athlete recovered from nagging injuries and returned feeling stronger.
“Your body needs time to reset,” Hinshaw says. “Masters athletes can’t train like 25-year-olds—there needs to be a smarter approach.”
The Mental Game: Resilience and Risk-Taking
Beyond physical training, mental resilience is a key factor in athletic longevity. Hinshaw believes that the best athletes are the ones who take risks.
“The difference between a champion and someone who finishes second is risk-taking,” he says. “The ones who win are willing to do what others won’t.”
One of his key strategies for developing mental resilience is managing self-talk during training and competition. Many athletes struggle with negative thoughts, especially during long or grueling events.
“Your brain will always try to convince you to slow down,” he explains. “But champions know when to ignore that voice and push through.”
Hinshaw recalls working with a CrossFit Games athlete who dominated a long-distance running event. Despite knowing his pace was fast, he stayed locked in.
“He didn’t let doubt creep in,” Hinshaw says. “And that’s the difference—you have to train your mind just as much as your body.”
Conclusion: Staying Competitive as a Masters Athlete
Aging doesn’t mean performance has to decline dramatically. By training smarter, maintaining intensity, and focusing on recovery, Masters athletes can continue competing at a high level.
Hinshaw’s advice is simple: Don’t stop training. Adapt, recover, and stay consistent.
“If you train properly, you can slow down the effects of aging,” he says. “It’s about balance, resilience, and being willing to take risks.”
For Masters athletes looking to stay at the top of their game, the key isn’t training harder—it’s training smarter.
