“How old do you feel?” is a great dinner party question.
I started asking it after a 97 year old patient came to see me with her 96 year old sister. There was such a feeling of youth in the room I asked this delightful patient, “How old do you feel?”.
She blushed crimson before replying, “I know I’m not this age - my joints creak and it takes me an hour to get moving in the morning - but I turned 23 and have never felt a day older.”
Def a customized training plan is the best way to go and having that service available on SYSTM is great. However, IMO, SYSTM 4DP plans should include a baseline adaptation for age, which would work well for most, and serve as a good starting point for a customized plan should a member desire to avail themself of that service.
I haven’t yet looked at Trainerroad’s adaptive plans in any detail, but I presume they would automatically self adjust appropriately for the 60+ rider.
One other problem with fixed plans is that, even with perfect compliance, they need to be continually adjusted according to how well the plan is working for you. One conversation with a coach is not going to fix that problem. This is a particular issue with the older age demographic because we are dealing with bodies that are less able to absorb excess stress which is what exercise is.
I’m 28, nearly 29. Having a baby and MUCH less time was my catalyst for getting a smart trainer.
So true! How old do I feel?? Not my age (58) by any means. I didn’t know how fit I was when I was younger, but could run half marathons, 10 milers and run hills in San Francisco. Now I garden for hours on end and love being on the indoor trainer. Keep moving, flexible, laugh and dance is my goal. 
I’m 54. Compared to the other people at my VFW, I’m a superior athlete. Compared to the other people in my Strava feed, I’m Tail-End Charlie.
Those, and eating and drinking well, are indeed the keys to healthy longevity!
…and to have the right genes.
52 here.
??? How you feel is what 58 feels like. What do you think it feels like if not how you feel?
Personally, I felt great at 58 and into my 60s. It wasn’t until after 65 that stuff started heading south as far as cycling went. I’m sure there is a lot of individual variation in the timing and speed at which decrepitude sets in.
I always tell myself that age is just a relative number. What really matters most are staying young at heart and being healthy. 
As for me, I have been doing high intensity cycling since 2014/15 and only as recently as 3 years ago (oh I had to reminded myself we are in 2022 now) I started training with power, and, it makes me wonder, what my real potential was if I started cycling earlier.
Recently I checked on my Garmin Connect app about my VO2 Max, I am apparently 12 years younger in terms of fitness age 
I was like really? 
In Asia and I think in the Chinese community at least, the greatest and most feared question on any occasion isn’t the age, it’s the “when are you getting married?” Hahahaha 
Oh I love her reply 
That’s aging gracefully!
Could not agree more!
This is my approach. My dad played golf 6 days a week until he was 89. It’s what kept him young at heart. Based on that, I still have better than 2 decades. I’ll worry about slowing down when I’m 90.
That’s a good sport to play too, lots of walking about and socializing as well.
Actually the most important thing is to be healthy as we all age and, the habit of exercising is something which everyone regardless of age should cultivate.
I did my first ToS in 2014, does that make me old?
64 now and more time for training than I have had in ages. Now trying to figure out what to do with it. I have used TrainingPeaks coaching in the past, especially when I did Ironmans. Older athletes need indeed adjusted plans but really valuable is the feedback - the exercise files- to the coach after the training sessions. I need a coach more for keeping an eye on progress and adapting the plan than for writing the plan itself or motivation. Ideal would be for me the combination of the coaching level of Training Peaks combined with Sufferfest workouts. I tried Wahoo coach but the feedback loop was too long.
That said, the older I get, the better I become at coaching myself and at listening to my body.
My approach exactly (I’m 66). I have not used the Systm training plans until this week, doing the 4 week prep for the KoS attempt. I have been doing my own thing since joining here just under a year ago. Happy with the results.
Could I do better with a coach, maybe. But for where I am and what my goals are I just don’t see the value. Good luck.
I work in Market Research and I can tell you that it’s very likely that the forum over-represents the higher age brackets of SYSTM users. So a survey of forum users likely will skew higher than the actual age of all SYSTM users.
There’s a number of different users active on the Sufferfest Facebook group which is also far from a comprehensive group of users and likely is also skewed as well.
But it would definitely be interesting to know the actual age distribution of SYSTM users, and compared to active users. And also if it changed during the pandemic and how it’s changing again lately…
Yep. Wahoo knows the distribution. I mentioned previously my ulterior motive for starting this thread was to further instigate getting an age dimension included in 4DP plans such that they were adjusted (or easily adjustable) for age. Currently, AFAIK, a 70 year old gets the same plan as a 20 year old if they have the same 4DP metrics. It is a business decision. Would SYSTM attract increased membership by having and marketing this feature, enough to justify the effort and allowing for its competition with their own training consult services?
There are two age distributions and they matter for different reasons.
The first, is the age distribution of the 4DP data set which, assuming it is the basis for the plans, indicates the probability of how well a plan works for a given age group.
The second, is the age distribution of the current and future customers which would help understand how much this plan adjustment feature is worth developing.
The knowledge of the former would help us understand the applicability of the plans, and would not probably cost any time to reveal. Now whether Wahoo considers that wise is another matter.