Recovery After 40: The Most Underrated Pillar of Cycling Performance
Recovery After 40: The Most Underrated Pillar of Cycling Performance
Most riders focus on training — more miles, more intervals, more watts. But if you’re over 40, there’s something even more important to your progress: recovery.
Recovery is the pillar that makes every other session count. Without it, training just piles on fatigue instead of building fitness.
Why Recovery Matters More After 40
The physiology of recovery changes as we age:
Slower repair: Muscle protein synthesis takes longer, so rebuilding after hard sessions is slower.
Hormonal shifts: Testosterone, growth hormone, and other recovery drivers naturally decline.
Lower resilience: Connective tissue and tendons don’t bounce back as quickly.
That’s why the same “smash it every day” approach that worked in your 20s often backfires after 40.
How Poor Recovery Shows Up
Signs you’re not recovering well include:
Plateauing fitness despite “working hard.”
Frequent illness or niggling injuries.
Trouble sleeping or feeling constantly fatigued.
Struggling to hit power targets in sessions that should feel manageable.
If that sounds familiar, the issue often isn’t your training plan — it’s your recovery strategy.
Practical Recovery Strategies for Masters Cyclists
The good news is, recovery can be trained — just like endurance. A few key habits make a huge difference:
Sleep first. 7–9 hours is non-negotiable. Sleep is where adaptation happens.
Fuel properly. Carbs during and after rides, protein across the day, hydration always.
Active recovery. Easy spins, mobility, yoga, or walking keep blood flowing and speed up repair.
Mobility and strength. Daily habits maintain joint health and resilience (I’ve done mobility work every day for years).
Planned recovery weeks. Don’t wait until you’re exhausted — build lighter weeks into your calendar.
A Personal Example
Across 42 race seasons, the biggest reason I’m fitter now at 56 than at 26 isn’t that I train harder. It’s that I recover better.
I track recovery, listen to feedback, and use mobility and nutrition as seriously as intervals and long rides. That consistency has kept me in the game year after year.
Recovery and the 6 Pillars
Recovery is one of the six pillars of performance I use with athletes: consistency, structure, recovery, strength, nutrition, and durability.
Without recovery, none of the other pillars hold. You can’t train consistently if you’re ill or injured. You can’t build strength if your muscles don’t repair. You can’t sustain durability if fatigue keeps winning.
Recovery isn’t downtime — it’s what turns training into progress.
The Takeaway
After 40, recovery is the most underrated pillar of performance. Train hard, yes — but recover harder. That’s how you keep improving year after year.
👉 Grab my free guide: The 6 Pillars of Performance for Masters Cyclists →. It explains how recovery fits with strength, nutrition, and durability.
And if you’re ready for a program that balances training and recovery to match your age, life, and goals, here’s where you can learn about my coaching programs →.