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Tips For Healthier Mountain Biking For The 40+ Year Old Rider
In this guest post by Terry Jones, he addresses needs of 40+ year old mountain bikers with a few tips and tricks for the trail.
Okay, all you 40-something and older mountain bike riders, there is no getting around or away from it, we are getting older. Before I continue, let’s just get it out of our system:
“I hate getting older! It sucks! It blows! In fact, it sucks and blows at the same time!” “It’s just not fair!” “I refuse to get any older!” “I skipped a year somewhere, I am still 39!!!” Etc, etc….
There, feeling better now?
The fact is, as we age, we are not quite as resilient and bulletproof anymore but you already knew that right? Despite our best efforts, we cannot keep up with those dastardly 20 something’s day in and day out. We take longer to recover from a great day of riding; we don’t bounce quite like we used to when we fall and we begin to nurse our aches and pains just a little bit longer. While the Homo Erectus has evolved over time, the Homo “ego” us in us keeps us from admitting this to ourselves but, over time, we come to grips with it. In fact, we have to if we want to continue to enjoy trail riding.
If you are like me, you will have to have your body pried from your trusty mountain bike when you come to the end of your trail of life and, of course, it will be buried next to you so you can continue to explore the heavenly trails in the hereafter. Until then, there are things that you, as a 40+ year old person, can do to assist in prolonging your earthly endeavors, reduce (not eliminate) the amount of time aches and pains remain and prevent injuries that occur in older bodies.
Cold starts are not good for engines nor are they good for trail riders. – Too often, a person just hops on his/her bike and off he/she goes! Sorry 40 +’ers, that just does not work anymore. As we age, our joints and tendons lose resiliency and to prevent injury, they need to be warmed up before any serious exercise. Before straddling that faithful bike and hitting the trail, try stretching for five minutes (back, hamstring, calves and arms) and then a short mild to moderate ride before the heavy stuff. If done correctly, this will seriously diminish the possibility of injury as well as joint/tendon recovery time. In fact, the more stretching and warming up a tendon, primary muscle and primary joint encounters, all things being equal, the less time it needs to repair and recover.
What you eat matters! – Remember the day when you would scarf down two Big Mac’s®, a shake, candy bars, and soda and still play hard all while keeping that boyhood figure? Yep, unless you have a seriously hyperactive thyroid, that is another thing that has to become a wonderful memory. Our eating habits must change to leaner meats, whole grains, low fat dairy products and plenty of fruits and veggies. While this is a wonderful core, juices such as pomegranate, blueberry, cranberry, and acai are a terrific supplemental source for their powerful antioxidant properties. Lastly, to help our joints and tendons remain supple and strong, a good quality Fish Oil supplement never hurts. In point of fact, several studies has shown that a quality fish oil or krill oil supplement enhances joint structure.
Strengthen thyself! – If you are not incorporating some type of resistant exercise into your routine, you are shortchanging your 40+ year old body. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, keeps a body more young more than lifting weights. If done correctly, it enhances your entire system exponentially. Besides the obvious stares you receive from members of the opposite sex, the benefits of resistance training are much stronger joints and tendons, greater padding for our primary joints, serious, and I do mean SERIOUS, increases in our boosts of strength to get up that hill, over that rock, or any other stand-and-hammer situation. Sounds hard to believe? I challenge you to give it a try! As this author lives in central Florida and enjoys year round riding (jealous anyone?) there is no “off season” but for those of you who do, why not put that off time to good use. Come spring, you will feel very young again with your increased strength and stamina.
Carbon fiber handlebars. – I know you are thinking to yourself right now, “What has this got to do with getting older??” but it connects quite well. It is a sad truth that as we mountain bike riders age, our elbows do not absorb the constant tension and grind that they once stood up to. Our forty year old plus elbows received a lot of punishment through the years and, now, they tend to start hurting earlier on longer rides. Carbon fiber handlebars, unlike the aluminum ones, absorb shock much, much better and relieve the elbows of the never-ending jarring and rattling. Besides the bling and decreased weight factor, they are one of best investments you can make.
Quality sleep! – Medically, the reason babies sleep so much is because they are growing. The reason older people sleep so much is because they are repairing. Growth and repair only happens when the body is asleep. For those of us in the middle part of life, sleep does both for us and we need all we can get, particularly if you trail ride. I encourage everyone to keep a young outlook on life but if you are partying like a 21 year old college kid, smoking, and boozing it up, you are not allowing your body to repair itself from the severe strains you place upon it by MTB riding. Hence, it will start to fail you and, I might not-so-subtly add, when you most need it. You are not 25 anymore so knock it off. Get to bed earlier and get the amount of sleep you need.
Address the Stress! – Too many of us live with stress filled lives and, truthfully, it has become almost an American way of life. Medically, stress causes damage to your heart and immune system. I wish I could tell you that you could go to your local bike shop and buy a can of “No-Stress” but, regrettably, it does not exist (in a legal form anyway). There is no such thing as a stress free life but there are things that you can do to dump some of it. Exercising and, particularly, MTB riding is a terrific antidote to stress but it needs to go further into your life. “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey is a terrific and easy read.
Lastly, as a 40+er, you have responsibilities to yourself, your family and your employer. – Can you believe that every time I ride, there is always an idiot (I am being quite mild here) who chooses to ride without a helmet? Your coconut is not stronger than a rock or tree. Let us face up the fact that we are going to fall. Do you really want your wife to have to deal with you as a veggie? No, you do not look cool and tough riding without a helmet; you are shouting to everyone, non-verbally, that you are indeed very selfish.
There is a well-known bumper sticker stating that a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. I can see the point but, honestly, I do not think that there is ever a bad day of MTB riding and this is something that most of us refuse to give up, ever. Taking care of our bodies is similar to maintenance on our bikes-take good care of it and it lasts for a very long time.
Terry Jones, a military vet, is a 45 (soon to be 46) year old mountain biker, bodybuilder and middle school math teacher who lives in Central Florida. Image by Alice Teoh.
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12:08 pm
LOL! A very positive article! I find myself getting weak after a rough push and I am going to incorporate some weight lifting and change my diet a little. I hate being 41 but I am glad to see that this group of riders is acknowledged. Excellent website
3:56 pm
I too like that you are addressing the needs of the 40+ set. I really like the article overall.
While I agree that cold starts can be problematic, I disagree on the best way to warm up. Stretching when cold can lead to injuries. Rather than that I prefer one of two methods: 1) Start easy and warm the muscles up before stretching on the trail somewhere. 2) Stretch after every ride—when I do this, I find I’m less stiff at the next ride.
8:33 pm
Can't keep up with those 20 something’s day in and day out? Maybe not everyday, but I can still try. Seriously though, even though I don't feel 40, I probably should heed some of the sound advice in those post more often (especially the part about starting slow). It is easy to forget sometimes that I can't (or shouldn't) really do some of the things I did on a bike 20 years ago.
3:08 am
LOLOL! Nope, I cannot keep up with those 22 year old riders every single day but I sure try to beat the pants off of them as often as I can. I have found that while they may have me slightly on xc, going up a hill I can breeze by them! They are a super competitive bunch and I love hanging out with them.
9:22 pm
What a neat article! I saw a small article on Krill oil as a supplement on MSN and its benefits for older athletes and am going to try it. About a year ago, a trainer told me that I should do light stretching before I ride and I have been doing it ever since. FINALLY!! an article that talks about us riders that are over 40! About time!!
9:27 pm
I sort of agree with you. If it is very cold and you go do a yoga type stretch, that is bad. Stretching light is a way of warming up before you warm up. I agree with the author in doing a light five minute stretch and a few minutes of a mild ride. I have a habit of just getting on my bike and riding but, after reading this, I will try stretching a little first.
4:10 pm
Awesome! There are good things about being 40+ and one of them is that hopefully your life is a balance between your family, your job and your favorite sport, for us: MTB.
Great article!
8:49 pm
The medical consensus seems to have changed quite recently in regards to stretching with several studies and a wealth of articles in recent times indicating that stretching before excercise has very little (if any) positive effects but more importantly can add greater potential for injury than it prevents as you are trying to stretch when cold.
The recommendation in all the articles I've read recently, as well as advice from my sports physician and personal trainer was that a gentle warm up in the targetted activity (gentle jog, gentle ride, fast walk) was a preferred method.
Stretching afterwards is still highly recommended (and the thing most of us forget as it interferes with coffee!) by all of them.
7:58 pm
Good post and well timed as I've recently crossed over the barrier into 40something and there's no way I'm going to stop riding anytime soon. I might add something about recovery after rides, refueling up within the magical 45-90 minute window and keeping your bike in good working order.
But there is one cool thing I can say now, I have been mountain biking for more than half of my life. I got my first mountain bike way back in 1987 and was almost immediately hooked!
12:30 pm
Some good tips in this article. I'm looking for a nice carbon handlebar, I'm sure my elbows will appreciate it. My arthritic hands (specifically, my right thumb) would appreciate a shifter that is easier to operate. Perhaps an update to the article could address this issue?
1:18 pm
I’ll see what I can get together!
12:18 pm
One of my mates shifted to SRAM grip shifters for this same reason. The X0 gripshift is also lighter and cheaper than the triggers. I haven’t tried them myself yet but just put a set on my youngest son’s (12yo) bike. They also don’t interfere with the brake lever bodies and allow the brakes to easily be placed inboard in their proper location for one finger braking.
7:18 pm
can you do some more research/info on supplements? I think that would be great fro us 40 yr olds (tomorrows my birthday and I’ll join the club) and the younger crowd….
7:56 am
Absolutely! I will get something together and submit it to Rob and see where it goes from there.
Thank you for your interest!
Good riding
7:46 am
He put something together! You can find it here.
http://mountain.bike198.com/vitamins-supplements-diet-and-mountain-biking/
2:29 am
Do carbon handlebars add anything to shock absorption if you have a suspension fork with good small bump compliance? (For example, I have a 2010 RockShox Revelation and have the negative air pressure close to the positive air pressure, which increases small bump compliance.)
7:36 am
The difference is less noticeable, but the deadening affects of carbon are still there. You don’t “feel” every bump in your hands as much.
12:03 pm
Stretching before a ride is cheesedick! Where did you get the 1980′s fitness mentality from. You stretch after a ride. What you want to do is active mobility exercises – calithenics and lots of movement. Don’t static hold anything. Then warm up riding by not starting out on a big hill.
3:06 am
I guess everyone sees stretching differently-if I do not do some light stretches before I ride, I notice some joint tenderness in the knees and shoulders. I do the same thing before I weight lift, particularly squats. In fact, I stretch before, during and after.
1:10 pm
Thanks for the article. I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with the pain in my hands and neck so that I can get my 45 year old self back on the bike. I’m going to try the carbon bars and see what happens. Would you also suggest a rise in the bars or stem?
1:51 pm
I typically like flat stems, riser bars and adjust for height with steering tube/headset spacers.
4:36 pm
Thanks for this, that’s all good advice most of which at 48 years old I’m doing my best to follow.
I really agree with your comments on the Carbon bars because they are under-rated as shock absorbers. They’re seen as weight-weenie, bling etc. My experience was they improved my ride significantly when I put them on a year ago.
I’ll just have to find the time to get to the gym and lift weights. I was hoping that hauling myself up hills on my singlespeed in winter was going to be my strength training!
9:02 pm
Some good stuff, however…… here’s my two cents. I agree wholeheartedly with the comments that the time to stretch is after the ride not before and the best way to warm up for a ride is either start slow for the first few miles or do a few miles on a trainer before you hit the trail. Full body weight training is an absolute must at least twice a week, or two days rest in between lifting. Good nutrition, sleep habits, and stress control have nothing to do with turning 40 or getting older; they are a must do at any age if you want to live healthier, happier and longer. I swapped my hard tail for full suspension for obvious reasons, my advice is skip the mid-life crisis Corvette and get yourself a bad a$$ bike. Turning 40, or 50 or 60 shouldn’t change your attitude or your aptitude. I just turned 56 and rode 6000 miles last year, 3200 of it was mountain biking. I routinely pass people half my age and never see them again for the rest of the day. Don’t use your age as an excuse for being lazy, make the time. Get regular check-ups and keep saying to yourself you’re only as old as you let yourself be, half the battle is mental. I hear “I hope I’m in as good a shape as you when I’m 56″ all the time; you should hear it too.
3:03 am
I agree with you that age is simply a number and that sleep, nutrition, etc. is something that everyone should do, not just 40 somethings. Congrads on the hard riding! You are a goal I want to surpass so thanks for the health competition. I guess everyone sees stretching differently-if I do not do some light stretches before I ride, I notice some joint tenderness in the knees and shoulders.
Weights are a must but I want to continue as a competition bodybuilder so I am usually in the gym four or five days a week, depending on my cycle.
Good riding!!!
3:44 pm
Thanks Terry! 2010 is looking to be another good year on the bikes, almost a grand is in the books so far. Good luck on the bodybuilding! Lifting twice a week is about all I can muster, besides don’t want to get that upper body too big, it will throw of my center of gravity
12:46 pm
I got into mountain bike late in life, only when my kids were old enough to ride. I used to be a roadie. My kids, now 9 and 12, love MTB and they make me work hard to keep up with them on the trial. The one thing that is most important to keeping healthy is quality sleep.
3:40 pm
Hey Eric, this is a little off topic from the physical standpoint but relevant in other aspects. You hit on a good point; cycling is a great family sport and a great way to stay close to your kids. My son is now 13 and the time we spend riding on the on the trail and road are priceless. I know it has helped us stay close and the sense of accomplishment instilled in him after an epic ride is great to see. Undoubtedly it will help him be a better person and give him great memories as he gets older.