The Athlete You Want to Be at 70 Starts With What You Do Now

“What do I need to do NOW to be still fit and strong when I’m 70?”

I LOVE this question!

This is something I think about a lot when building an athlete’s overall plan. Everything we do is about your goals right now, but we’re also looking into the future. What will help you become a lifetime athlete who can still compete at a high level years from now?

This season matters. Your next race matters. And so does the athlete you are building for ten or twenty years down the road.

When you look at training this way, some of the everyday decisions take on more meaning. Strength work, recovery, addressing a niggle early, and knowing when to adjust all become part of that bigger goal.

For me, three things sit at the top.

1. Stay as injury free as reasonably possible.

Niggles happen. Areas that need maintenance are normal. We’re not expecting a body that never gets sore or needs attention.

What we really want to avoid are the big injuries that take you out for months or years. Consistency becomes more and more important as we age, and protecting your ability to keep training needs to be a priority.

That means being proactive.

Pay attention to the things that keep coming up. Do the exercises you’ve been given. Keep a regular maintenance routine, whether that includes massage, mobility, or working with someone who understands your body and your sport. Communicate when something isn’t feeling right.

We can’t prevent everything, but we can make good decisions about the things within our control.

That calf that keeps tightening deserves attention. The discomfort that is changing how you run deserves a conversation. You don’t have to wait until something stops you completely before you address it.

Sometimes shortening a session or adjusting a few days is what allows you to keep putting together good weeks and months. I want athletes to recognize the value in that decision.

When I’m looking at your plan, I’m thinking about what you can absorb, recover from, and repeat. Those consistent weeks are how we build toward the future.

2. Keep your muscle mass and strength.

If you want to be strong and competitive in your 70s, make strength a priority now.

It’s easy for endurance athletes to keep adding swimming, biking, and running while strength work gets pushed aside. There is always another session to fit in, and strength can become the thing you’ll do “when there’s more time.”

We need to give it a consistent place in the plan.

I want you maintaining muscle, staying strong, and moving well. I want you to have the strength to support the training you enjoy and the racing you still want to do.

And when I say lean muscle mass, I’m talking about preserving muscle. Getting lighter isn’t automatically progress. We need to think about what helps you stay healthy, strong, and capable over the long term.

That includes eating enough to support your training and giving yourself the recovery to benefit from it.

Build a strength routine you can stick with. Learn to do it well. Let it progress with you and adjust it through different parts of the season.

Think about how many years you want to keep doing this sport. Strength deserves your attention throughout those years.

3. Accept that working hard may feel different—and stay willing to do it.

This is a big one.

As you get older, something that used to feel easy may take more effort. You may have to work very hard for a pace or power you once took for granted.

Mentally, that can be tough.

I think this is where a lot of athletes hit a crossroads. They’ve trained for years. They have experience. They’ve put in the work, and they want it to feel easier at this point.

But it may feel hard. Sometimes harder than it used to.

If you want to keep competing at a high level, you have to be willing to embrace that effort while adjusting your expectations to the athlete you are today.

You can have an excellent session without matching the numbers from ten years ago. You can execute well, stay focused, and work hard—and that effort still deserves respect.

If every session becomes a comparison with your younger self, it’s easy to lose sight of what you’re accomplishing now.

I want you to stay curious about what you can do. Keep learning. Keep developing your skills. Keep finding ways to race better. There is so much satisfaction available in doing this well at every age.

And embracing hard work still means using good judgment. Easy days need to be easy. Recovery needs to happen. Pain or unusual fatigue needs attention. We want purposeful effort that you can recover from and keep building on.

You can be realistic about change and still have big ambitions. Always think about the habits and decisions that will support your goals for years.

What do we need to take care of now? What needs a more consistent place in your routine? What are we overlooking because the next race feels more urgent?

Some days, working toward that goal will mean a great training session. Other days, it will mean doing your strength work, addressing a niggle, eating properly, or getting the rest you need.

All of those choices belong in the overall plan.

I want you excited about what you’re doing right now. And I want you just as excited about the athlete you can continue to be.

What does the athlete you want to be at 70 need you to start doing consistently today?