Getting Ready for the Winter Slog!

Your season is finished… you reached a high level of fitness and had some great results, maybe even a few PB's, or even qualified for the Nationals or World Championships and want to go even faster next year. So what do you do? Try to maintain this fitness as best you can and soldier on, or rest completely for a few weeks, or ease back slowly before building back up again?

Most athletes of any level from novice to professional will have trained hard consistently for about 9-11 months of the year and packed in a few hard races causing deep levels of fatigue, tiredness, stress (physical, emotional and hormonal) and taken a lot of time away from their families to complete and compete in their sport. So for these athletes it's time to ease back, stop training altogether and REST, RECOVER, RESTORE, REPLENISH and REVITALISE themselves!

High levels of fitness mean high levels of fatigue so the body needs a few weeks to step back and do nothing at the end of the season. Mentally these athletes have no problems doing nothing… they physically and mentally want a break, and they know they will bounce back revitalised and ready for a different type of training program to prepare them for next season.

Some athletes that have reached a peak or PB in performance don't want to lose what they worked hard for and are scared that they will not reach the same level again so have too little rest or none at all. Be careful if this is you!

Holding onto peak fitness through the winter may get you great races in early spring in March - May… but the key races start in June - October! By then you will surely be burnt out before the season has started!

So how long do I rest for?

Such a hard question to answer as that should be discussed with your coach (if you have one) and depends on your training load and races completed through the year and how the athlete feels. For instance, right now at the beginning of November 2018, I have 2 athletes continuing training (not resting from season) as they are building from mid / late season illness so they had a few weeks of rest or very little training. Emotionally and physically they feel good and will continue to train with no break till spring.

Other athletes are resting between 2-4 weeks… doing absolutely NO TRAINING in swim, bike, run or gym! NOTHING! I have also ensured they do no other physical activity like long days of gardening or moving house / lifting heavy boxes for the whole day etc...

For these athletes they have earned their rest and completely vegging out and putting on a few pounds and enjoying food and drink otherwise neglected through the year.

What Then After The Rest?

Athletes will then start a training program which is planned in TrainingPeaks and based around their own unique lifestyle, work and family commitments.

Some will begin a polarised training plan, others use a 'classic' / linear approach to training, whilst others will may use a reversed periodisation model. Whatever training plan model they are using it is important to not go crazy with too much volume and intensity, but rather find a rhythm of training through shorter, manageable sessions that can fit easily around your lifestyle.

In the beginning of your off season training it would be wise to focus on limiters / weaknesses and add a little more consistency in the sport you are weakest at. Take 1-2 sessions away from your strongest discipline and replace with 1-2 in your limiter.

For instance: A weak swimmer training 2 times a week most weeks but who is a strong biker training 4 times a week, would be best served doing 3-4 swims and dropping bike to 2-3 sessions a week. Do this for approximately 4-8 weeks to see a good improvement.

You mention periodisation models such as linear, polarised and reversed… what does this mean and how can it benefit me?

That is for my next post!