MASTERS ATHLETES NEED TO TRAIN
Bill Skinner is an international Masters champion, and an active athlete. It took three years of bad results before he realized that even older athletes need to hit the gym. His story could be a road map for every Masters athlete in every sport.
"I had never worked out. I was a river guide, a hunter and a ski coach. That was an active lifestyle, so I didn't think I had to work out. But as I got older, all that activity wasn't enough," the 51-year-old Skinner said.
He learned what many Masters athletes find out: you can't bike, hike, swim or run yourself into shape once you hit middle age. The Masters body hits a point where it no longer builds muscle as easily as it once did. That's when race results start to slide.
Skinner was always at the top in his sport, which is ski racing. But slowly, he dropped out of the top ten racer seed. Then he began falling during races, finally tearing a knee ligament in 2005. "I'd injured that knee before, but this time I didn't come back like I had ten years ago."
The former champion became a poster boy for a Masters athlete comeback. After seeing himself sink to the middle of the pack, he decided to join a gym and hire a trainer. That was in the summer of 2007.
"My trainer set me up with a full body program; legs, core, arms, a general fitness routine. When I first started, it was about an hour and a half routine. It was hard getting into that, a struggle. Opening the door to go inside the gym was always tough mentally. It was hard to find the time, but you have to find the time," Skinner says.
At first, he missed sessions. But as it got more regular, it got easier to do.
Skinner advises starting with a personal trainer. "That gets you doing it properly, and also motivates you to actually go to the gym," he advises.
One of the most important parts for the older athlete is the warm up, which makes muscle fibers pliable and less likely to be injured from the stress of activity. Skinner started every workout session by riding a stationary bike for 20 minutes, while moving his arms to warm up his shoulders.
"I lifted lots of free weights, did a lot of situps. I also did a lot of balance work, standing on a half-ball with the bar. I did six months of a training workout, five months of a maintenance workout during the season. It helped a lot. It definitely made me a better athlete," he says.
After the first six weeks, when the routine of going to the gym was no longer difficult, Skinner used his trainer as a consultant. The trainer would check his condition every month or so, and change his workout.
The results shocked Skinner's competition. He was suddenly winning and placing in races---not just age category, but overall. At the Masters National Championships in March, racing against top skiers from all over the United States, he was second overall in the men's slalom. Other racers were lining up to find out how he did it.
Skinner says, "I just renewed my gym membership. I will never go without working out again."