Many masters athletes assume frequent injuries are simply part of getting older. But is age really the problem? This article explores why some athletes remain remarkably resilient into their 50s and 60s, why intelligently managed intensity may be part of the solution, and how adapting your training—not avoiding challenge—can help keep you healthy and performing at your best.

Athletes rarely describe the issue of being uncomfortable in the blocks as a loss of speed. Instead, they describe how the start feels. They talk about feeling rushed, stuck or awkward. Often they describe a sensation where they're working harder to get out yet somehow generating less momentum. Some say they feel as though they're spinning their wheels during the first few steps, while others talk about standing up too early or feeling like a baby giraffe trying to find its f

Many masters athletes assume losing explosiveness is simply part of getting older. While ageing certainly plays a role, training habits often have a bigger influence than people realise. In this article, we explore why speed and power tend to decline, the mistakes many athletes make, and what you can do to maintain explosiveness well into your later years.

Many masters athletes still have the capacity for quality speed work — they just need to tweak the structure of the session and improve the way they recover both for it and from it.

Your calves are responsible for absorbing force, producing force, and helping the body move efficiently. Every stride, jump, acceleration, and change of direction relies heavily on the lower leg. If the calves are weak or poorly conditioned, the rest of the body often pays the price.

The goblet squat looks simple but is one of the most valuable strength exercises for athletes. Holding a weight at the chest naturally encourages good posture and exposes flaws like knee collapse or poor trunk control. It builds squat mechanics, core stability, and mobility simultaneously. For runners, swimmers, and field athletes, it bridges bodyweight and barbell work. Control, depth, and alignment matter more than load, making it a powerful assessment and development tool.

For masters athletes, especially those balancing life, work, and injuries, that kind of support can be the difference between a season that sputters and one that actually delivers.

Masters sprinters don’t slow down because of age — they slow down when training stops matching their needs. From strength and consistency to smart programming and recovery, small decisions drive long-term speed. These are the six most common reasons performance stalls — and how to avoid them.

Squat depth isn’t about right or wrong — it’s about purpose. Deep squats build strength, resilience, and joint capacity, especially important for runners over 30. Quarter squats develop power and speed by training the body at running-specific joint angles. The best programs use both, sequencing them intelligently to support performance now and durability long term.

Curved treadmills are becoming a key tool for athletes because they improve mechanics, increase work quality, and reduce impact. These qualities make them especially useful for Masters athletes who want to train hard while protecting their bodies.

Great throws start from the ground up. For Masters athletes especially, developing strong, explosive legs is one of the highest-leverage ways to boost performance, stay resilient, and keep training enjoyable.

There’s one muscle group sitting quietly on the inside of your thighs that plays a far bigger role than most realise — the adductors. These muscles don’t get much attention because they don’t “show up” in the mirror, and you rarely feel them burn like your quads after a hard session. Yet, they influence almost every major movement pattern in both running and swimming. Ignore them, and you’re building strength on a shaky foundation.

For masters sprinters, the winning formula isn’t more training. It’s better training. Sprinting in your 30s, 40s, and beyond presents a unique challenge. You’ve got the competitive drive, the experience, and often the discipline you lacked when you were younger — but your body doesn’t bounce back quite the same way. The trick isn’t trying to train like you used to. It’s learning to train smarter.

The butterfly stroke is one of swimming’s most physically demanding disciplines, requiring power, technique, and anaerobic endurance. While mastering the stroke in the water is crucial, research shows that targeted strength training is a game-changer for performance.

Success is about making sure that everything in your training—your runs, your strength work, your mobility, your recovery—serves a clear and specific purpose.

Progress doesn’t follow a straight line — it comes in waves. There are good weeks, average weeks, and some that make you wonder if you’ve gone backwards altogether.

In our last blog, Never Too Old To Jump, we explored why Masters athletes should keep jumping as part of their training. The next question is how. The good news? You don’t need to start with box jumps or advanced depth jumps. In fact, low-level plyometrics are often the best place to begin. They give you all the benefits—improved power, tendon health, and efficiency—without excessive stress on the joints.

One of the first things many athletes over 30 let go of in training is jumping. It’s often seen as too risky, too hard on the joints, or simply unnecessary once you’ve moved beyond your twenties. But here’s the reality: you’re never too old to jump. In fact, plyometrics and jump variations may be some of the most valuable tools in your training arsenal as a Masters athlete.

When one season ends, athletes naturally start looking to the next. The temptation is to jump straight into training, but without clear goals, training lacks direction. Goal setting isn’t just about picking an ambitious target race or competition—it’s about creating a framework that makes daily training purposeful and sustainable. Done well, goals act as your roadmap. Done poorly, they become a source of frustration and burnout.

For most Masters athletes, piling on volume doesn’t make you fitter or faster. It just makes you tired.