How to change rider decline age in pro cycling manager 2018

вЂњYou need to adapt your training as you get older. One option is polarised training, which means binning off the more mediocre zones. To get the most out of these sessions, your hard needs to be genuinely hard, and your easy notably easy. This training zone is 110-120 per cent of Functional Threshold Power,В and intervals are usually three to five minutes, with equal recovery - often amounting to around 20 minutes in total. Training needs to be focused on maintaining a high V02 max. Riders who have already reached the physiological downward slope can keep themselves strong by adjusting their training, and nutrition. If you came to cycling later in life, or didnвЂ™t train as effectively when your body was at its peak, numbers could still go upwards as your age increases. Of course, all of the stats and theory we have around the optimum age for performance looks at the athlete's ceiling of potential. Older athletes also have more experience behind them, they may be better at knowing their limits, pacing, and in many cases may train more intelligently thanks to an ever increasing knowledge bank. Things like pedal technique come in to it, if youвЂ™ve got a nice smooth pedal stroke it's part of the process of becoming economical,вЂќ Shaw says. вЂњThe volume naturally makes you more efficient and economical. вЂњAlthough V02 max might be starting to go down, riders in later life benefit from other things: possibly increased muscle strength, cardiac output and stroke volume may be better.' ThereвЂ™s several reasons that endurance riders may be able to hold on to form as they surpass what should be the performance peak. I had become so efficient I was using less energy, less oxygen, to ride at a given pace,вЂќ Shaw says. I could make up for it by having fantastic economy after years of endurance training. вЂњFrom lab testing, I know my V02 max into my 40s was good but wasnвЂ™t outstanding. She came to competitive cycling in her 30s. It wasn't until she was 45 thatВ Shaw, who now coaches at Shaw Cycle Coaching, went to her first Commonwealth Games, clinching a bronze medal. 'So whilst you do see some outstanding athletes in endurance in their 40s, that's less common for sprinters,' Shaw confirms. Sprinters use more fast twitch muscle fibres than endurance riders, and research indicates that slow twitch muscle fibres decline comparatively less in number with age.вЂќ Human growth hormone is lower and testosterone is lower in men, which has an impact on muscle size.

вЂњSprinters have the problem of decreasing muscle mass.

Sprinters peak a little younger, because the components relevant to top performance in the power focused discipline decline earlier. If you continue to train hard you can reduce that to more like 5 per cent per decade, after the age of 30,вЂќ Shaw says. вЂњFrom the age of 30, V02 max drops in the region of 10 per cent a decade. This is more relevant to endurance athletes. вЂњA rider at peak form will generally have high V02 max, and probably high fuel economy as well вЂ“ so that their anaerobic threshold is a high percentage of their V02 max and they can sustain it. The perfect storm that signals peak form comes when an athlete has built up a high level of training history, before the ravages of age set in.ДЄ reduction in V02 max, the efficiency with which the body delivers oxygen to hungry muscles, and a lower maximum heart rate are two symptoms of an ageing body.

How to change rider decline age in pro cycling manager 2018