» The Off Season – Part 1

It’s the “Off Season” what do I … not do?

I get this question often this time of year “How do you NOT train?” Especially for the competitive cyclist or triathlete who has been racing all summer, sometimes every weekend, not training hard and racing all the time can feel very strange.

The Off Season:
First off, I want to stress the word “OFF” in off season. Off means Off! The first and most important aspect of your next season is being totally fresh and completely motivated for next season. Now is the time to start that process.

Less is better here. Catch up on work and family. Drop off the bike at the shop for a tune up. Have them check it over for cracks in the frame along with full safety check, racing is very hard on your equipment. The key with this faze is to make sure you are 110% ready to start training come the start of your program. The under trained, over motivated athlete will beat the perfectly training under motivated athlete every time! Come the beginning of “base training” you should be itching to train. It should be all you think about, so when it’s 20 degrees and freezing rain, your pumped up and ready to put in a solid training effort! This is also the best time to sit down with your coach and/or teammates to discuss what your goals will be for next year. How did you perform this year? What was good? What was bad? What will have to be different with your preparation for next season, etc.

Here are some easy steps for an effective off season:

1. Off time: Take an extended time of ZERO training. This will be different for every one. 2 weeks for some, 2 months for others. How ever much time you need to be totally rested and motivated to train again.

2. Recovery: Any nagging injury’s? Bike not working quite right for the last 2 months? Been wanting to get that nagging cough looked at? Do it!! Get a massage, go to the doctor, dentist, what ever you need to do to feel 110 percent physically and mentally for the next season. This is active recovery, taking aggressive action towards healing. These are the most important aspects of off season training.

3. Maintenance training: After this you may be ready to train but your program doesn’t start for another month. What to do? Many pro’s and age groupers alike will take part in “unstructured training”. It’s best to make this something different than your primary sport, try something new. It will most likely improve some skills needed in your primary sports. Just staying active, (cross training) will maintain your base fitness and, depending on your activity, can address your weakness leaving you fit, motivated and with stronger limiters than you had last year. A perfect way to start your next season!!

4. Cross Train!
Go Mt. biking , running, play basketball, tennis what ever you like and have put off due to your strict cycling training. Cyclist are notorious for having weak abs and core muscles. Working on this will help keep you injury free next year.

5. Most important have fun!
Do those old training rides you did when you first started riding. Plan a trip. I have done a few long rides with friends in the fall that have proved to be lots of fun and great endurance training.

Eric is a full time triathlon and cycling coach. He is the owner of EK Endurance Coaching and works with athletes of all levels. To learn more about Eric and what he can do for you, go to http://ekendurancecoaching.com