Never physically talented I achieved everything I did though hard but intelligent training and I dedicated a large part of my life to learning everything I possibly could about training, nutrition, aerodynamics and the art of racing.
I left school at 16 and did a technical apprenticeship at Bae Systems where I qualified as a systems engineer working on the Nimrod and Eurofighter projects. I learned how think analytically and logically which is something which has held me in good stead in my career as a cyclist and a coach. In 2007 I left BAe originally just for a year out but my cycling coaching business took off and I never returned!
Since 2007 I have been a fulltime cycling coach and have learned and improved as I’ve gone and I’ve established a great reputation. It’s a competitive business and the fact that I have made a living from it for over 16 years says a lot about the good reputation I have established.
Through my 20s and 30s cycling was everything. I could subject myself to endless hard training and my body would just keep bouncing back. But in my 40s that started to change. I’m 6 foot 2 and due to years of doing nothing but hammering myself on the bike I was only 72 kg and looked and felt ill. 2021 was my last full season as a competitive cyclist and in the September of that year I recorded a 19 minute 51s 10 mile TT which was my fastest ride for 10 years. I was very fit but actually very unhealthy. I was 45 years old but felt about 75 years old! A testosterone test later in the year confirmed that I also had the testosterone levels of a much older man.
I decided to do something about it. I took a break from competitive cycling and started to feed a body that had essentially been starved for years and I started to lift weights. I threw myself into lifting and learned everything I could about weight training, nutrition and optimising natural testosterone levels.
Amazingly my broken body quickly started to heal and grow. 2 and a half years later I was 88kg and most of those gains were lean muscle. I no longer felt 75, I felt 20 years younger than my actual years. I never want to go back to the emaciated, sickly version of my old self no matter how fast he may have been.
I never stopped training on the bike throughout those 2 and a half years. You can be very fit and fast on a bike and you can also look and feel good. So many cyclists in their 40s, 50s and 60s are very fit but have pot bellies and pretty much no muscle mass. They don’t look good and it’s not a healthy way to age.
So many cyclists are kept off the bike due to bad knees, bad backs, bad shoulders and all kind of other ailments which are all a symptom of sarcopenia.
Past the age of about 40 we start to lose around 1% of our lean muscle mass a year. This is called sarcopenia. So many cyclists are kept off the bike due to bad knees, bad backs, bad shoulders and all kind of other ailments which are all a symptom of sarcopenia. In effect it is an illness and if left unchecked will eventually leave you frail and weak.
I firmly believe that every cyclist past the age of 40 should lift weights with the aim of building lean muscle mass. The muscle mass you gain will keep you strong on the bike right into your old age, it will keep you looking and feeling good long past the stage when most of your peers are resigned to a slow death on the sofa!
A strong body obeys but a weak body commands!
I have already converted a number of my existing clients from cyclists who only ride to cyclists who lift and every single one of them loves the changes it brings about.
To my knowledge no other cycling coach really understands the importance of truly being healthy as we age. They really only understand how to be aerobically fit. But you can be aerobically fit and unhealthy. I know, because I was. Low testosterone levels and low muscle mass are serious risk to your health.
You simply MUST change how you train as you age and you MUST address the effects of sarcopenia. I know how to do that while at the same time keeping you a fast, competitive cyclist.
