Masters (40+) Sprint Triathlon Training Plans

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Is A Sprint Triathlon Masters Plan Right For You?

Our Masters Sprint Triathlon training plans are designed for athletes over 40 years old. Although plenty of younger athletes love them too.

The workouts are just as tough as with our normal training plans, but with more scheduled recovery days. And more strength and conditioning work, so you stay strong and flexible.

Masters triathletes face different challenges to younger athletes. Families, busy careers and lack of sleep are just a few. That said, not all over 40 triathletes require a Masters-specific training plan. Some find it easy to carry on with a normal training load, while others need to change their approach to training.

When to Consider Choosing a Masters Plan:

Your training time availability is reduced with work and family commitments.
You feel sleep deprived from daily stresses.
Your body has different needs in terms of recovery, strength and flexibility training.
You suffer recurrent injuries.
You feel constantly fatigued or overwhelmed by your regular training.
You keep catching colds and other viruses.

Can I Still Race Successfully?

Yes, you can. In fact, by following our Masters plans, you may well race better than ever. The key to success is training consistently, without missing workouts due to injury, fatigue or time limitations. It’s not always about “who can do the most training?”.

All our training plans adhere to the principle of “Progressive Overload”. Meaning that the stress placed upon your body gradually increases over time. By training consistently with regular recovery periods, you’re more likely to absorb the gradually increasing training loads.

How is a Masters Plan Different?

Rest and Recovery

Strenuous Sprint Triathlon training will cause muscle damage. As we mature it can (arguably) take longer for your muscles to adapt and remodel. This decline in rate of recovery will vary according to genetics and training history. Insufficient recovery time can lessen the effect of the workout and leave you more prone to injury. Masters Sprint Triathlon plans have more rest days each week (1 or 2 days per week) and a 1:2 ratio of active recovery weeks to hard weeks (this is 1:3 in regular plans). That means you’ll do two weeks of challenging training, and then take an active recovery week (with around half the training stress).

Strength and Conditioning

As we get older, our muscle density begins to decline, and it becomes crucial to counter the effects of age-related muscle loss.

Our Sprint Triathlon Masters plans have two scheduled strength and conditioning workouts per week, designed to promote:

Performance through improved strength and power.
Increased muscle mass.
Injury prevention by strengthening connective tissue, muscles, and tendons.
Flexibility to maintain power through a full range of movement.
Improved bone density.
Fat-free body mass (a leaner physique).

All Strength and Conditioning workouts can be carried out at home. There are also alternative exercises if you prefer a gym based workout.

Training Intensities and Volume

Training intensely is the key to success in any sport, regardless of age. Strong performances come from having a solid base and workouts that maximise your anaerobic fitness, speed, power and skill. Evidence suggests that higher intensity work with less volume is beneficial for the Masters athlete training for Sprint triathlon. Shorter, more intense workouts will also free up valuable time for recovery and work/family commitments. Masters plans optimise your training time with the right ratio of volume and intensity relevant to each plan.

Approach to Training

As an older athlete with a full life, prioritising is an essential skill. Ideally schedule your week, planning times for family, training, work and sleep. You should also be prepared for the curve balls that cause chaos in your best laid plans. Consistency in training is arguably the most important trait amongst successful Masters athletes. Here are some ideas to help you stick to your regime:

Use your commute as an opportunity to train.
Add in strength and conditioning at home, with the kids if necessary!
If you can’t do a whole session, do part of it, something is always better than nothing.
Commit to a lunchtime workout.
Double up sessions if necessary, for example run or bike to the pool or tack your strength and conditioning straight after a bike or run (save showering twice).
Life will occasionally get in the way and if you need to miss an odd workout, let it go and move on. It happens to us all.

Top Training Tips For A Sprint Triathlon

Swimming Tips

This is most people’s weakest area, and the aspect they are most concerned about. If you’re not a confident swimmer, it’s a good idea to sign up for a series of adult improver swim lessons. Within a matter of weeks, you will improve your technique and fitness. Otherwise it’s very hard to improve your swimming alone.

Once you can swim 400 meters or yards freestyle in a pool without stopping, you can then train on your own more, or in a group. Break up your swim workouts, into smaller chunks with regular rest periods. We suggest you always have some idea of what you’re doing, before you get in the pool. You’ll get more out of following a pre-planned workout, than you will by plodding up and down aimlessly. If you follow our training plans, we do all the thinking for you. We also include video swim drills, to help improve different aspects of your stroke.

If you can already swim 1000 meters or yards non-stop, you could join in with a triathlon club swim session, or masters swim club. Training in a group, with a poolside coach, is the fastest way to improve. If you’re thinking of doing a triathlon with an open water swim, it’s a good idea to practice swimming in that environment too. It doesn’t have to be every swim you do but aim for at least two open water swims before you race in open water. We include these workouts in our training plans too, in the lead up to race day.

The distance you swim in your training depends on your current level. If you’re a beginner, aim to gradually build up to a level where you can swim 1000 non-stop. That way, you know you’ll be safe to swim a sprint triathlon, and still have energy to spare.

Cycling Tips

Aim to cycle a couple of times per week (or more) and if you’re a beginner, gradually build your rides up to a distance of 25 km (or 15 miles). This will give you enough fitness for a sprint triathlon, with a little to spare. The majority of your training can be done at chatting pace, but it’s also good to include some harder efforts.

You can either cycle outdoors in good weather, or indoors using a trainer such as a Wahoo KICKR. Many indoor trainers enable you to link to interactive cycling software like Zwift. This means you can ride with real people in a virtual environment – which makes it more fun. The workouts in our training plans can be exported to platforms such as Zwift, TrainerRoad and Garmin. However, it’s sensible to do at least some of your training outside on the bike you intend to use during your triathlon. This ensures you’re used to the feel and handling of your race-day bike.

Running Tips

Aim to run twice per week, but be sensible about your speed and distances, to avoid injury. For example, start off by running two miles and increase your distance by 1 mile per month until you’re able to run four or five miles. Do most of your running at chatting pace, even if it means you have to include some walking. It’s also good to include some harder efforts, but interspersed with plenty of easy stuff. Be patient with your running. Impatience leads to injuries, and consistency is your goal.

Strength Training Tips

We include two 40-minute strength and conditioning sessions per week with our olympic triathlon plans. Not everyone can fit them in around their busy lives, on top of their swimming, cycling and running, but it’s good if you can. These workouts can help balance your strength and flexibility, which leads to more efficient movement patterns and fewer injuries. We suggest you only do strength work in addition to at least two swims, two runs and two cycles per week. Rather than instead of them.

Using A Sprint Triathlon Training Plan

Online training plans are for athletes who don’t feel the need for a personal coach, but who still want the structure and planning of an expertly-written training program. Research has shown that you are twice as likely to reach your goals if you train with a structured plan.

For a beginner who has some recent background in fitness or sport, we suggest you give yourself at least 12 weeks to get fit and ready for a sprint triathlon. The sooner you start, the more time you have to build up your fitness gradually. Fitness adaptations take weeks and months to occur, rather than days.

About Phil Mosley

As an athlete and parent, I know how challenging it can be to train effectively for endurance events. Being a certified coach with over 20 years’ experience, the biggest challenge is balancing my client’s training with their lifestyle...

And that’s why I started MyProCoach - to offer the world’s most comprehensive range of online training plans, all designed to help you enjoy the same success that my athletes and I have, while still making sure you have quality time for your family, friends and career (read 100+ detailed reviews here). You can also hear from me in a series of 6 short explainer videos below:

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Why use our training plans?

READ OUR TOP 3 REASONS

Premium, flexible plans

Research-backed plans for any experience-level that fit around your lifestyle. From leading endurance coach Phil Mosley.

Intuitive tracking software

A flexible calendar, targeted training zones, trackable progress and so much more - on any device.

Email access to coach

On top of full help-centre & FAQ support (with videos), our coaches will quickly reply to any questions you have via email.

Our Masters (40+) Sprint Triathlon Plans (6-21 Weeks)

MORE THAN JUST A TRAINING PLAN

How will I receive my plan?

We use Training Peaks to deliver your plan – the world’s most popular endurance coaching platform. Free to use, Training Peaks is an online calendar that lets you record, track and analyze your training sessions.

It has a host of great features allowing you to get as in-depth as you like, including the ability to export your workouts to your training devices (Garmin, TrainerRoad etc) and follow them in real time.

Training Peaks enables us to set you in-depth training plans in a way that other formats cannot. Phil Mosley is a Certified Coach and one of the best-selling coaches on the platform.

What does "email access to coach" include?

We want to provide an affordable and effective training solution, including email coach support for any questions you may have. As you can understand, some limits apply, like personalisation or analysis of your training, but for anything else relevant to your plan, we would love to help. We also give you full access to our online help centre, with videos and articles to help you train effectively.

Can I adjust the plan to suit me?

Certainly! Our training plans allow you to easily swap a few days around each week to suit your availability. We give a few recommendations on how to best do this in our help centre.

Can I train for multiple events?

Yes! Our training plans guide you up to your target “A” race, but it’s also good to include some “B or C” races along the way. Our help centre goes through the exact steps you should take to enable you to get full benefit, without detracting from your key focus.

Under 40? Compare these with our Standard Sprint Tri plans ▸

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FEEDBACK FROM MY SPRINT TRIATHLON CLIENTS

First of all a big thank you. I followed your sprint triathlon training plan and I beat my personal best by seven minutes!

Valentino Oriolo - May 2014

Sprint Triathlon

I’ve followed several of your training plans and really enjoy them. Last Sunday was the first time I’ve repeated a race and was pleased to see my time come down from 1:37 last year to 1:27 (400m / 24km / 5km.)

Jason James - June 2017

Sprint Triathlon

Thanks for all the guidance. Whatever happens at the World Championships, I have really enjoyed this season. I am British Champion and I'm in better shape than I could ever have hoped if I had just muddled along with my old regime.