Weight training is crucial for masters athletes

Man in gym using weights
Author:  Associate Professor Peter Reaburn
Issue: Volume 30 Number 4

Muscle-building weight training is crucial for Masters athletes wanting to maintain or improve sports performance. 

The muscle mass of athletes change in four stages:

  1. Muscle size peaks between 16–19 years for females and 18–24 years for males.
  2. Between 25 and 50 years there is a 5–10 per cent decline in muscle size.
  3. Between 50 and 65–70 years there is another 15 per cent decline.
  4. After 65–70 years there is an accelerated loss of a further 25 per cent. 

As we get older we lose the muscle mass so crucial for sports performance. There are two major reasons why:

  • Decreased muscle fibre size, particularly in the power-producing fast twitch muscle fibres.
  • Decreased muscle fibre number, especially the power-producing fast twitch fibre (at age 30, about 60 per cent of muscle fibres are fast twitch; at age 80, it’s about 30 per cent).

Both of these decreases lead to a 50 per cent loss in muscle mass between the ages of 20 and 90. Sprint or power training and high-intensity endurance training can help slow the decline in muscle mass.

Benefits of weight training for older athletes

Weight training as we get older has numerous health and performance benefits, as summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Health and performance benefits of weight training for Masters athletes.

Health Benefits Performance Benefits
  • Increases independence as we age.
  • Helps prevent and treat osteoporosis.
  • Normalises blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
  • Reduces resistance to insulin in people with type 2 diabetes.
  • Decreases both total and abdominal body fat linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk.
  • Increases resting metabolic rate, so helps weight control.
  • Reduces risk of falls.
  • Helps reduce pain and improve function in people with osteoarthritis.
  • Improves posture.
  • Helps reduce stress.
  • Increases muscle mass for strength and power development in sport.
  • Increases fast twitch fibre area, for speed and power generation.
  • More muscle to take up oxygen and improve endurance performance, following endurance training.
  • Stronger connective tissue (ligaments, tendons and cartilage) to increase joint stability and help prevent injury.
  • Increased bone density and thus bone strength, helping to prevent injury.
  • Helps with weight control.
  • Improved self-confidence in training and competition.

Where to start

Strength and conditioning development is part art and part science. Therefore Masters athletes and their coaches should get advice from qualified strength and conditioning professionals. Three methods for making contact are:

  • speaking with coaches of high performance athletes in your sport to find out where they get their advice\
  • through the ‘find a coach’ search on the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association website (see related links). These industry and/or university-qualified people are recommended for younger and healthy Masters athletes.
  • through the ‘find an exercise physiologist’ search on the homepage of the Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science (see related links). These university-qualified professionals are recommended for Masters athletes with health problems.

In general, the following model (Table 2) can be used to develop muscle mass, strength and power in Masters athletes.

Table 2: Major training variables for developing muscle mass, strength and power in Masters athletes.

Phase Load Repititions Sets Recovery
General adaptation (4–6 weeks) 40–60% 12-15 2-3 2-3min
Hypertrophy (4–6 weeks) 70–85% 8-12 2-3 2-3min
Strength (4 weeks) 60–100% 8-12 2-3 3-5min
Power (4 weeks) 30–60% 3-6 2-6 2-3min

Conclusion

Weight training that focuses on building muscle mass is crucial for Masters athletes. The off-season and pre-season should be used to develop muscle mass and strength. During the pre-competition and competition phases of training, the increased muscle mass and strength should be converted to power through a combination of specific sports training and exercises designed by professional strength and conditioning specialists.


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