Aging and Performance Can Go Hand in Hand

At Rowing on the Square, one of the things we believe strongly is that aging and performance can go hand in hand.

Getting older does not automatically mean slowing down. What it does mean is that we may need to approach training differently than we did before.

As athletes age, the body changes. That’s a normal and expected part of the process. The goal isn’t to fight those changes, but to adapt our training so we can continue to perform well and stay healthy for the long term.

The Training Habits Many Rowers Start With

Many rowers build their training around a simple formula:

Get on the erg.
Row steady state.
Do it consistently.

For a lot of athletes, that looks like rowing for an hour, five days a week, especially when preparing for an event or competition.

Consistency matters, and steady state rowing absolutely has a place in a training program.

But as we age, relying on the same routine we used years ago may not give us the same results.

What Changes as We Age

Two of the biggest changes we see with aging athletes are:

• A gradual loss of strength

• A reduced ability to produce power

This doesn’t mean performance has to decline. It simply means the training inputs need to evolve.

For many rowers, that means adding elements to their training that they may not have prioritized before.

For example:

• Adding strength training

• Including power-based workouts

• Reducing some steady state time to make room for the weight room

Lifting heavier weights, developing strength, and building power can help support rowing performance in ways that steady state training alone cannot.

Training May Need to Look Different

As athletes, we sometimes place pressure on ourselves to train the same way we always have.

But maintaining — or even improving — performance as we age may require different modalities and approaches.

Instead of doing the same workouts year after year, we may need to:

• Change the structure of our training week

• Introduce new types of workouts
  

  Balance endurance work with strength and power training

The goal is not to do more training, but to train more intelligently.

The Joy of Experimenting With Training

One of the most enjoyable parts of getting older as an athlete is that we get the opportunity to experiment and learn more about how our bodies respond to training.

Training doesn’t have to become more restrictive with age. In many ways, it becomes more creative and more intentional.

Different forms of training can produce different forms of performance, and exploring those options is part of the journey.

Rather than fearing that performance will decline, we can approach aging as an opportunity to refine our approach, try new strategies, and continue improving.

Performance Is Still Possible

At Rowing on the Square, we work with athletes who want to continue rowing strong, healthy, and competitive for decades.

Aging doesn’t mean giving up on performance.

It simply means that how we train may need to change.

And for many athletes, discovering those changes becomes one of the most rewarding parts of the process.