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Am I Training Too Much — Or Just Too Much of Everything?
How much training is enough after 50? For Masters athletes, the answer is rarely a weekly number. We look at training load, recovery, strength, endurance, speed and the demands of the athlete’s actual goals to ask a better question: is each part of the week producing a useful adaptation?

Coach Dave
6 days ago6 min read


What Do I See When You Send Me a Training Video?
For me, athlete video is about much more than checking technique. It gives me another piece of information about how training is progressing, how an athlete is responding and whether something needs to change. In this article, I look at what I’m actually looking for when an athlete sends me training footage, and how it fits into the bigger coaching picture.

Coach Dave
Aug 265 min read


Why Train Movements Your Sport Rarely Uses?
Why train movements your sport rarely uses? For Masters athletes, training across different planes can support performance, strengthen less-used muscle groups and improve control in positions your sport may not challenge very often.

Coach Dave
Aug 194 min read


Why Do I Need the Gym If I Swim Five Days a Week?
Swimming five days a week gives you plenty of training. But the gym can develop strength, power and physical resilience in ways the pool cannot. Here’s why that matters for Masters swimmers.

Coach Dave
Aug 124 min read


What Happens When Life Gets in the Way of Training?
Life gets busy and training doesn't always go to plan. Sessions get shortened, moved or missed completely. So how much does that actually affect your performance, and what should you do when you can't fit everything in? I look at how I’ve managed my own disrupted month and why one missed session probably matters far less than you think.

Coach Dave
Aug 65 min read


Training Through Menopause
Perimenopause and menopause can change how training feels, but they do not mean your goals need to shrink. This article looks at how athletes can monitor changes in recovery, fatigue and training tolerance, while continuing to develop the strength, speed, power and endurance their sport requires.

Coach Dave
Jul 304 min read


Has Training Got Easier as I’ve Got Older?
Has training become easier as I’ve got older—or simply more precise? This article explores why effective Masters training is not about removing challenge, but about applying the right stimulus while managing fatigue, recovery and injury risk more carefully.

Coach Dave
Jul 234 min read


Building a Faster Masters Swimmer From the Ground Up
Technique is central to swimming performance, but it can only be expressed as well as the body allows. This article explores the key physical qualities that underpin successful Masters swimming—including strength, power, stability, mobility, robustness and recovery—and explains how targeted strength and conditioning helps swimmers train more effectively, maintain technique under fatigue and continue improving over time.

Coach Dave
Jul 83 min read


The Exercises Change. The Thinking Doesn't.
After 35 years of coaching Masters athletes across multiple sports, I've become less interested in finding the perfect exercise and far more interested in understanding what an athlete actually needs. Eighteen years coaching the same athlete reinforced that lesson. The exercises changed. The thinking behind the program barely did.

Coach Dave
Jun 303 min read


I'm Stronger Than Ever. Why Aren't I Faster?
Why increasing strength doesn't always translate into faster sprint times, and why power, coordination and stiffness often become more important as athletes mature.

Coach Dave
Jun 244 min read


I Never Used To Get Injured. What Changed?
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.

Coach Dave
Jun 164 min read


Am I Too Old For Blocks?
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

Coach Dave
Jun 95 min read


How To Maintain Explosiveness As You Age
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.

Coach Dave
Jun 23 min read


Why Speed Sessions Feel Harder After 40
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.

Coach Dave
May 214 min read


Build Calves That Perform
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.

Coach Dave
May 142 min read


Why the Goblet Squat Works for Nearly Every Athlete I Coach
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.

Coach Dave
May 72 min read


What To Do When the Season Implodes
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.

Coach Dave
Mar 113 min read


Top 6 Reasons Masters Sprinters Slow Down
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.

Coach Dave
Feb 232 min read


How Deep Should You Squat
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.

Coach Dave
Jan 242 min read


How a Curved Treadmill Can Boost Athletic Performance
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.

Coach Dave
Nov 26, 20252 min read
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