Science-backed programs built around how your body performs and recovers after 35 — so you can train harder, stay injury-free, and keep competing.
WMA = World Masters Athletics — the world governing body for masters track & field. Its age-grading standards let you compare your result against the best in your age group, on a level playing field.
You're curious about masters athletics but don't know where to begin. You don't need a generic app — you need a clear path from where you are now to your first competition, built around your body and your goals.
You're training consistently but something isn't clicking. Generic group sessions and one-size-fits-all plans can only take you so far. You need a programme actually built around you — your age, your event, your data.
At the top of masters athletics, margins are small. You need more than a training plan — you need an intelligent coaching system that understands WMA standards, competition peaking, and the specific demands of performing at your level.
Not sure where you stand? That's exactly where this starts. Enter any event — even a rough time — and we'll show you your age grade and what's realistic from here.
Enter your best result and see exactly where you sit against WMA standards — and how far you are from the next level. This is where improvement starts.
Enter your best result and see your WMA age grade, your gap to world class, and your projected trajectory. The data that serious masters athletes use to set real targets.
Use seconds for sprints (e.g. 12.48) or mm:ss.ss for longer events (e.g. 02:14.40). For field events enter metres (e.g. 6.85). Enter your best result from the last 12 months only.
The three most searched questions in masters athletics this week — answered straight.
Heavier, within reason — not lighter. This runs against common assumption, but sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) responds specifically to mechanical tension, which means lower-rep, higher-load work is more protective than high-rep, low-load training. Masters athletes who shift toward lighter weights and more reps to "protect their joints" often accelerate the very strength loss they're trying to avoid.
The practical approach is training in the 3–6 rep range at 75–85% of one-rep max, two to three times per week, with genuinely competent technique and adequate warm-up. Joint protection comes from controlled loading and proper movement quality, not from avoiding heavy weight altogether. Bodyweight or light-band training alone is rarely sufficient to maintain strength past 50.
Yes — meaningfully more. Anabolic resistance, where muscle becomes less responsive to a given amount of protein, increases with age, meaning masters athletes need a higher protein intake to trigger the same muscle protein synthesis response a younger athlete gets from less. Where 1.2–1.6g per kg of bodyweight is typical guidance for younger endurance and power athletes, masters athletes generally benefit from closer to 1.6–2.0g per kg.
Timing matters too: spreading protein across 3–4 meals with at least 30–40g per sitting is more effective than front-loading it in one large meal, since the body's capacity to use protein for muscle repair in a single sitting is more limited with age.
It's rarely one single cause — tendons and ligaments lose elasticity and take longer to adapt to load, connective tissue repair slows, and small technical breakdowns that a younger body would absorb without issue instead become chronic strain points. Training volume and intensity that felt sustainable a decade earlier can quietly exceed current recovery capacity without any obvious warning sign until an injury appears.
Prevention comes down to three things: progressive loading (never large week-to-week jumps in volume or intensity), consistent mobility work targeting whatever's tightest for your event, and genuinely respecting recovery windows rather than training through persistent low-grade soreness, which is often the earliest warning sign of an injury still building.
Questions updated every Monday.
Ready to start? Click Here.Most masters athletes train hard but lose performance to three hidden gaps. Three short quizzes reveal exactly where yours are.
Sleep quality
Circadian rhythm & recovery windows
Mobility
Tissue elasticity & joint health
Nutrition
Fuelling, recovery & anti-inflammation
Sleep quality
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