Want to Get Faster After 40? Build Resilience, Not Just Fitness

Some cyclists start out really strong and committed in January, chasing a bigger FTP and an exciting goal in the summer. But as training progresses, they develop a sore knee or a chest infection. Then it's three weeks off the bike for soemthing else and a month later they're back where they started, frustrated they haven't seen the improvement they wanted.

At the opposite end, I have cyclists I work with who just keep turning up. Week after week, season after season. Over a few years, that steady stacking of training adds up to more fitness than any intense, short-lived block.

After 14 years of coaching, I’ve become convinced that the biggest gains after 40 come from the cyclists who can keep training, week after week, for years not just short lived intense periods.

That's why I focus on more than just short-term gains. Our coaching isn't just about quick wins but about building longevity and resilience for cyclists over 40 through our 360 Performance Code™ - TRAIN | FUEL | MIND where diet, recovery and mindset are just as important to "train".

Performance is what you see in the data. Resilience is everything that allows you to keep producing it: a body that absorbs training, recovers from it and stays healthy long enough for the gains to keep building.

What performance and resilience mean after 40

Performance is your output on the day: power, speed, how well you climb and how long you can hold the wheel. Resilience is your capacity to keep training and living well around it.

Strong muscles, tendons and bones, good sleep and fuelling. A head that copes with a stressful week at work or the ability to crash, catch a cold or miss a fortnight and bounce back quickly.

In your 20s, you can often get away with chasing performance alone. After 40, recovery becomes increasingly important, maintaining muscle and bone requires more deliberate attention, and life often brings more competing stress.

So resilience becomes the platform performance is built on. The more of it you have, the harder you can train, the more consistently you can train, and ultimately, the faster you can get.

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How to build resilience into your training

1. Create a training plan you can actually complete

Don't aim for a perfect training month. Aim for consistency. If you can complete 80%+ of your planned training across the year, you'll likely achieve far more than repeatedly completing 100% for two weeks and then disappearing for two.

Build a lighter week into every third or fourth week so recovery is scheduled before your body forces you to taker a break.

2. Build load slowly

Your body needs time to absorb training. Adding more volume, more intensity and more gym work all at the same time is one of the quickest ways to create an issue. Progress your training gradually and give your body time to adapt to the work you're asking it to do. More training isn't always better training. The goal is to do enough to create adaptation without repeatedly pushing yourself to the point where you can't train.

3. Lift twice a week, consistently

Two 20 to 30-minute sessions can make a big difference. Squats or split squats, a deadlift or hip hinge, step-ups, and a plank or dead bug are a great place to start. Strength work helps support the knees, hips and lower back, maintains muscle and power that cycling alone doesn't fully develop.

4. Add some impact

Bone responds to load and impact such as brisk walking, hiking, skipping, short hops or a little running a couple of times a week. This can give your bones the stimulis that cycling doesn't. Start small and build up gradually over several weeks, especially if you haven't done any impact exercise for years.

5. Make recovery part of the plan

Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep where possible, include proper rest days or lower-intensity Zone 2 days, and eat enough wholesome, good quality food to support the training you're doing. Fuelling, sleep and life stress all affect your ability to recover and train consistently. Eat properly before and after harder sessions, and remember that a stressful week at work still puts stress on the body. Sometimes adjusting your training plan is smarter than trying to push through it.

6. Get your bike fit checked

Knee, back and neck problems are among the most common complaints I see in cyclists. A professional bike fit is worth considering after significant changes to your shoes, saddle or riding position, or when persistent niggles start appearing. It's a relatively small investment compared with weeks of missed training because something has developed into an injury.

Resilience self-check for cyclists over 40

Tick the ones that are true for you right now:

• I completed at least 80% of my planned training weeks in the last three months
• I've had no injury or illness that stopped me riding for more than a week this year
• I do strength training at least twice a week
• I do some walking, hiking, running or jumping most weeks
• I sleep seven hours or more on most nights
• My recovery rides are actually easy
• I eat properly before and after hard sessions
• My bike fit has been checked in the last two years
• I can take a lighter week without feeling guilty

If you ticked fewer than five, resilience may be one of the biggest untapped areas in your training right now.

The cyclists I coach who make the biggest gains over 40 are usually the ones who miss the fewest sessions. Their plans build strength, recovery and fuelling in from the start, so performance has something solid to build on.

If you want to find out where the biggest opportunity for improvement is in your own cycling, take our two-minute quiz and we'll point you towards the right next step.

Or, if you're ready to start building towards a bigger cycling goal, check out Accelerate where we combine all the training principles above into one group programme that drives big improvements.