Training Model for Extended Career Athletes: A Narrative Review

CONTEXT: Today's elite and professional sports tend to feature older, more seasoned athletes, who have longer sporting careers. As advancing age can potentially limit peak performance, balancing training load is necessary to maintain an optimal state of performance and extend their sports career. OBJECTIVE: To describe an appropriate training model for extended career athletes. DATA SOURCES: Medline (PubMed), SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. STUDY SELECTION: A search of the literature between January 1, 2015 and November 22, 2023 was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. STUDY DESIGN: Narrative review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted from studies related to the management of training and performance of athletes with extended and long careers. RESULTS: A total of 21 articles related to extended careers were found. Key themes from these papers included: expertise, biological maturation, and specificity; epidemiology and health; athlete monitoring; strength training; load management and detraining; success management. CONCLUSION: A training model for extended career athletes should balance the deleterious effects of age with the athletes' knowledge of, and expertise within, the sport. Designing specific training that accommodates previous injuries, training load intolerances, and caters for quality of life after retirement should be key considerations. Load management strategies for athletes with extended careers should include strength training adaptations to minimize pain, load-response monitoring, a broad range of movement, recovery and intensity activities, and the avoidance of large training load peaks and periods of inactivity.