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The Athlete's CompassYour guide to endurance training, nutrition, and recovery. Author: Athletica
The Athletes Compass Podcast is your compass for navigating endurance training and health. In this show, we explore the cardinal directions of training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset, delving into the dynamic relationship that drives athletic success. Athletes are more than numbers; they're individuals with unique lifestyles and mindset challenges. Coaches who understand these personal nuances play a vital role in their athletes' journey. While training details and data are important, tools like Athletica provide a solution to streamline the technicalities, allowing coaches to focus on the human connection which makes the human coaches the best they can be. Each week, renowned sports scientist and researcher Paul Laursen will be our teacher and guide as we break down training principles so you can understand how best to train for your sport! We take a no-bullshit and practical approach to support age-groupers, masters, and everyday cyclists, runners, and triathletes like you as you find your direction as an athlete. The hosts are Paul Laursen, sports scientist and founder of the Athletica.ai training platform, Marjana Rakai, coach, sports scientist, and triathlete, and Paul Warloski, coach and cyclist. Language: en Genres: Fitness, Health & Fitness, Sports Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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How to Train for Endurance After 50 with Dr. Reaburn
Episode 125
Thursday, 23 April, 2026
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 wiselyKey takeawaysStrength 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 changesPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
