Fitter & Faster Podcast: How to Stay Fit and Fast As You Age
Getting older doesn't have to mean getting slower—but you've got to understand how to stay one step ahead of the aging curve. We explore it all in this podcast.
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Welcome to Triathlete’s training podcast, Fitter & Faster, where we cover one training topic in-depth each month—from the basics to your questions, plus all the gear you need.
Fitter & Faster and all our Triathlete podcasts are now on one feed, so you can get all your triathlon news in one place. Be sure to subscribe to our Triathlete podcast feed so you don’t miss anything: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Soundcloud | Spotify | iHeartRadio
You can also listen to past Fitter & Faster episodes with Dr. Stacy Sims, Jay Dicharry, Dean Karnazes, Matt Dixon, cycling guru Matt Bottrill, sports psychologist Jeff Troesch, and plenty more.
In this episode of Fitter & Faster we discuss the many ways our bodies change as we age—and what this means for our training, recovery, and performance as triathletes. Former Ironman world champion Karen Smyers and ultra triathlete and Ironman champion Dede Griesbauer join host Emma-Kate Lidbury to talk about their experiences. Smyers now coaches a host of successful mature athletes, ranging in age from their 40s to their 70s, so she gives us plenty of insights into how, as a coach, she helps them adapt their training and their expectations. She also talks about racing as a pro into her 50s, something which Griesbauer knows plenty about as she’s still going strong in the pro ranks with her 51st birthday just days away.
Whether it’s more focused strength work in the gym or more diligent injury prevention and maintenance work, one thing is clear: If you want to keep training and racing well as you get older, you have to do so with a smarter approach and really know your body—as well as face up to the fact that you might not see improvements year after after. During our chat, we reference this article about the Lever running system and foam rollers get mentioned a few times, so here’s one of our favorite rolling routines. And if you’re looking for some added background on Smyers and Griesbauer (the pair began working together as coach-athlete back in 2002 and remain good friends) then you might enjoy this article: My Mentor Changed My Life Through Triathlon.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be Fitter & Faster without our Gear Up section with resident gear guru and Triathlete executive editor Chris Foster. He talks us through some of his favorite gear and gadgets that can help you train smarter as you get older. We talk about the importance of really maximizing data to stay one step ahead of what’s happening with your body, touching on a number of topics, ranging from HRV (heart rate variability) to training zones (check out this podcast with Coach Ryan Bolton on Training Zones) as well as stress. We reference this article from PodiumRunner about stress: The Body Doesn’t Know Miles, It Knows Stress. We also get in the weeds on the hot topic that is blood glucose monitoring, and you can check out our reviews of the two systems we talk about here: Levels Real-Time Blood Glucose Monitoring and a comparison of them both in this review.