Things you can do in your "off season"

[Gymgurl]

TRIATHLON TIPS: Making the Most of Your Off Season Training
As we head into the fall and winter months most of us are now in the off season. Although we will start again soon enough, it is vitally important to make the most of our off season. In fact, what you do in your off season can shave valuable time off of you race times come spring and summer. For most of us, we had our share of highs and lows throughout our racing season. Even if things didn’t go your way on the course, by taking an objective look back at your season, you can turn those weaknesses into great strengths. It is truly important to be as thorough and as objective as possible when you evaluate your season. Here are some of the most effective things you can do in the off season to make your racing season its absolute best.

Have Your Bike Fitted to Your Build
Riding a bike that is not fitted to your build can cause unwanted pain and injury and it could even be making you slower. I recently had a 3-D bike fit performed at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Boulder, CO. This test is conducted by attaching sensors at key points throughout your body and then projecting a 3-dimensional picture of your cycling form onto a computer screen. Using this advanced imagery, a physiologist can determine places that you can gain power and save energy. After making a few adjustments on my bike it was estimated that I would save three and a half minutes on a 90k ride. When you think about it, cutting three minutes off a 90k, by doing nothing more than adjusting your bike to fit you is pretty incredible. In addition to saving time by getting your bike fit, you can also save yourself a lot of misery. By riding in a position that isn’t suited for you build, you can do some pretty serious damage to your body. By finding the position that is right for you, you can get in more volume with less injury.

Have a Lactate Threshold Test Conducted
This is another area that you can make the most of the time you spend training. The lactate threshold test is performed to dial in your exact heart rate zones. With as much time as we spend training at certain heart rate zones, doesn’t it make sense to make sure that the zone you are using are right for you? Many athletes that I know train much harder than they need to be and this can cause injury and fatigue. For more information on a lactate threshold testing please see our September newsletter.

Hire a Professional Coach
Hiring a coach has become more the norm than the exception in the world of endurance athletics. The truth is that a coach can make all the difference in your success. A coach can build you a precise plan using the data from your lactate threshold test, as well as building you a solid periodized plan. If you are trying to plan your training season and individual weeks on your own, you will almost undoubtedly benefit from having a trained professional do this for you. Not only will you be getting accurate, detailed plans, you will be saving yourself valuable time by allowing a coach to do this for you. A coach can also help you find free speed by analyzing your from in your sport and making corrections if needed.

If you decide to hire a coach, be sure that you research your options. Coaching services can be large companies with a big name, or a one man operation. Think about what you want from a coach. Do you want to have minimal contact with a coach, or do you want someone that you communicate with everyday? Think about where you need the help the most and be sure that you find someone that specializes in that area. A coach can be your greatest motivator at times and it is important that it is someone you like and respect. To a certain extent you need to trust your gut on this. Before putting money into this, be sure that your coach is right for you.

Make Necessary Equipment Upgrades
It is no secret that our sport requires a lot of equipment. The question is…is your equipment truly helping you maximize your potential? One of the most common equipment errors I see is a wetsuit that fits improperly. Any loose pockets of air, especially in the chest area and crotch area will quickly become filled with water in a race. It’s like trying to swim fast while dragging a bucket of water along with you. On the cycling end of things many of us ride bikes that are worth more than some cars, and yet, our components are far from the best. When looking at all of your equipment and components for your bike, think lightweight and aerodynamic. For instance, look at your wheels. There are a number of wheels out there that are lighter and more aerodynamic than the wheels that come with our bike. By upgrading to a set of lightweight and aerodynamic wheels you are shaving valuable time off your pace, with no additional effort. Look at your race helmet as well. Many manufacturers are making aero helmets that are appropriate for triathlons. This is another area where aerodynamics can save you valuable time. On the run, take a look at your feet. If you have never tried running with flats and elastic shoelaces, now may be the time. Running in lightweight and easy to slip on flats can make you much faster. Also look at your clothing. Be sure that what you are wearing is comfortable and isn’t slowing you down. Think back on everything that you use in a race or in training and ask yourself if everything you are using is working for you. If you find that something may be slowing you down, make the necessary upgrade.

Strength Training
I know most of the time the last thing endurance athletes want to do is lift weights mainly because it is too time consuming. However, a proper lifting routine throughout your season can be vitally important in dropping your race times and in keeping you injury free. This is an area where I highly recommend seeking guidance from a coach. Strength training can be very complicated and dangerous. A good coach will know exactly what types of lifts you should do for your particular sport as well as proper sets and repetitions to match your periodization plan.

 

[Gymgurl]

You don't have to gain weight in the "off season".........


One of the great pleasures of being an endurance athlete is that most people find that exercising allows them to eat just about what they want. But what happens after your racing season is over and your weekly mileage decreases significantly? Many athletes find that they put on a few unwanted pounds that they have to work hard to get rid of before the next racing season. To be a successful athlete season after season, your nutrition during the off season is an aspect of training that should not be forgotten.

Your diet at this time of year should not be different; it should just be less. The bottom line is that you are just not burning as many calories as you were during your heavy training season. Estimating your daily calorie needs can help you to better understand your energy needs during decreased training. Use this method to estimate the range of calories you need daily.

Less active: little or no purposeful exercise
Body weight (in pounds) x 14-15 calories per pound = _____________ calories

Moderately active: approximately 45-60 minutes a day of moderate exercise, most days of the week.
Body weight (in pounds) x 16-20 calories per pound = _____________ calories

Very active: approximately 60-120 minutes a day of moderate exercise, most days of the week.
Body weight (in pounds) x 21-25 calories per pound = _____________ calories

Once you have determined your estimated calorie intake, you should analyze the composition of your diet. A well-balanced sports diet should follow the guidelines of the Food Guide Pyramid. The pyramid is comprised of 5 main food groups: breads and cereals, fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy products and lean meats. The final food group on the top contains foods high in fat and/ or sugar, and foods that contain few or no nutrients. The foundation of the pyramid is composed of eating generous portions of plant-based foods, such as breads, cereal, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. These are the complex carbohydrates that provide athletes with their fuel. Consuming adequate amounts of protein in lean meat and low fat dairy products ensures that you have a well-balanced nutrition plan. Finally, your daily diet should have limited amounts of "empty calorie" foods such as sweets and fats.

If your diet does not take the form of a balanced pyramid, do not feel alone. Many athletes are shortchanging their health, as well as performance, by not paying attention to their diet. Here are some of the most common mistakes of endurance athletes.

Excluding One or More Food Groups
All foods can fit into a healthy diet. There are many reasons that athletes may be missing food groups. It could be that the foods aren't convenient, they believe that a food group is taboo, or that they just don't like those foods. Eating foods from every food group is important to make sure you are receiving all the nutrients that you need for optimal health, but it also helps to provide variety in your diet. Athletes typically struggle to eat enough fruits and vegetables. Try to include 2 servings of fruits and vegetables at eat meal. This may seem overwhelming, but it can be done with ease. At breakfast, add 1cup of frozen berries to your cereal and drink 4 oz of 100% fruit juice. For lunch choose a side of fruit with your sandwich instead of chips or French fries and start with a green salad. 1 cup of steamed vegetables can count for two servings at dinnertime.

Eating From an Upside Down Pyramid
What do you crave most after a long run? Most likely it is something that would fit into the top of the pyramid. That is not a problem if is happens only occasionally. Eating too many foods that are high in fat and sugar can become a problem when they squeeze out the healthy, nutritious foods in your diet. Those foods typically have a higher calorie content than your fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Use the 3:1 rule. For every one high fat/sugar food that you eat, try to eat 3 nutritious foods.

Eating on a Schedule
Skipping meals or going too long between meals can lead to poor choices and overindulgence. A simple way to solve this problem is to eat according to a schedule. Try not to allow yourself to go more than 4 hours between each meal and snack. This will keep you from ever getting too hungry and will provide you with a more even supply of energy thorough out the day. Plan a mid morning and a mid afternoon snack that is composed of a carbohydrate and a protein. For example, low fat yogurt with a banana or a homemade trail mix of ¼ cup of dried fruit and ¼ c. of nuts.

Eating a well-balanced sports diet does take some planning, but the end result is well worth it. You spend so much time and effort training; it only makes sense to compliment it by fueling your body right during the racing season or off-season.

 

[Gymgurl]

For most endurance athletes, the racing season comes to an end in the fall. Earnest preparations for the next racing season do not begin until sometime after the New Year. The weeks between the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next are an ideal time to take stock of the past season and plan for coming one. Every endurance athlete wants to improve - achieve greater success (however success is defined) with each new cycle. Putting your brain to good use during the off-season is a good way to set yourself up for continued improvement as an athlete.
It's not a bad idea to avoid thinking about sports entirely for the first couple of weeks after you've completed your last race of the year. You've probably been thinking about training, racing, equipment and nutrition plenty for the past several months and your mind could use a break every bit as much as your body. Listen to your instincts. After a couple of weeks off, your body will most likely start to crave exertion again, and a familiar hunger will return to your thoughts, as well. Wait for the hunger - it will serve you well.

After your mental break, the next thing you should do is take stock of the preceding season. This entails simply asking yourself a whole bunch of questions. Overall, was it a successful year or a disappointing one? What seemed to work well in your training and what did not work? Which physical limitations seemed to hold you back most in your races? Can you think of ways to address these limitations through modifications in your training? Did you encounter any new training methodologies that you would like to put into practice in the future? If you feel that something needs to change, but you're not sure what, are there trusted resources you can turn to for guidance? Did you suffer any injuries? Do you know what caused them and how to prevent them in the future? Were you satisfied with the equipment you used? Are there any key purchases you would like to make for next season?

Your answers to these many questions will set you up for the next step, which is to plan next year's training and racing. Begin by planning two or three peak races - those races for which you want to achieve maximum fitness. Then work backwards, planning the rough outlines of each week of training preceding these races until you arrive at Week 1 - your first week of base training. Don't bother to plan every workout in detail - there's simply no telling what your body will need or be ready for six months from now. Do plan - as precisely as possible - the volume and frequency of training you wish to do each week, as well as the types of key workouts (i.e. high-intensity and long workouts).

Endurance sports are not all physical. Your mind can contribute a great deal to your success as an athlete, even during the off-season. By making the effort to take stock of the past season and methodically plan for the next, you will likely experience much more progress than you would by winging it.

 

[Gymgurl]

Now is often the time of year when athletes begin planning their training time in preparation for next season's goals. Motivation levels may be running low, with many athletes experiencing mental fatigue after a long season of focused training. Or motivation may be high, as athletes have seen a glimpse of what can be possible next season. However, shortened daylight hours, cold weather, indoor training, holiday family commitments and simply the need to regenerate mental strength demand a reduction in available training hours. These elements require an increased efficiency in our training.

By focusing on your limiters during the off-season you can accrue your highest rate of return for training time invested and set yourself up well for next season. The following are my tips and guidance for setting up your off-season:

Primary Goal: Regenerate Your Attitude and Conserve Mental Strength for the Next Season, ie HAVE FUN!!
In September and October my phone starts ringing with people seaking coaching for races nine to thirteen months away. The first thing I do is to find out where the athlete's head is. In December, will he put his feet on the floor at 5:30am and say "I am training for an Ironman in September of next year"?

Folks, that is a very dangerous place to be. If that's where your head is, you're at high risk of being in a bell tower by June. All of the tips below are focused on tricking you into thinking you are NOT training for the race you're actually training for. My method is very simple, fun, and it works:

Insert Cool Events (CE's) on the calendar.

CE's should come in two flavors: what you love to do and what you need to do.

Train for these cool events.

Move from CE to CE throughout the year.

Wake up 8-12 weeks out from your goal race, realize that you're in pretty damn good shape, physically and mentally.

Apply that fitness and fresh head to focused training for your goal race for a relatively short period of time.

Schedule a Professional Bike Fit
Find a good local bike shop with triathlon-specific bike fit knowledge and schedule a fit with them for the month of March. Use this appointment as a goal for to increase your flexibility during the limiter season. Increased flexibility can increase range of motion and comfort on the run. But it can also allow you to assume a more aerodynamic AND comfortable position on the bike, which translates into free speed. Consider pre-paying for the appointment, just as you would a race.

Create Good Eating Habits
In my opinion, the quickest path to improved fitness is through improved body composition. Why focus so much time and energy on building a big engine if you're going to put that engine in a truck instead of a sports car? Improving body composition is largely a function of creating good eating habits and applying these habits consistently over months and months. This gradual process allows you to lose body fat in a healthy manner, rather than trying to "make race weight" a few weeks before your goal race. Create good eating habits in October and November, and use them to limit the holiday damage, then carry them forward into next season. Please read my training article, Paleo Diet, Modified for Endurance Athletes

Schedule Some Personal Time with Your Local Swim Coach
Improving your swim technique probably offers the greatest return on your training dollar. You may also be a little burned out from a season of Masters swimming and long yardage. Rather than continue to play wall tag with your Masters group, hire that coach to spend a little quality, one-on-one time with you. Have him critique your form and ask him to write up a schedule of technique focused workouts for you do between personal swim coaching appointments. Then perform these workouts as recovery sessions between your more demanding bike and run sessions. Strong swimmers may consider not swimming at all, or only for recovery purposes.

Seek to Add a Social Component to Your Training
In my opinion, the two most valuable training events you can create are a three hour long bike and an hour and a half long run that you execute every week, from now until the end of time. Adding a social component encourages you to make that regular Saturday ride with your buds simply "what you do," month after month, year after year. I look forward to my weekend workouts the way I used to anticipate $3.25 pitchers at Moe's and Joe's in Atlanta. So join a local tri club and meet new people. Train with old friends who've been on a different training schedule all year. Check out that running club that meets downtown on Wednesday nights for a run and pizza.

Train Like a Half Marathon Runner
That hour and a half long run is perfect for every flavor of triathlete. If you race Olympics, it will help you build a very solid base for next season. If you're a Halfer, it's just at or below your peak long run during the season, enabling you to solidify the base you already have. It's also short enough to accommodate some half marathon flavor intensity. If you're an Ironman athlete, it's long enough to help you keep your base while short enough to accommodate the tempo running your Ironman training couldn't support during the season

For all of these athletes, half marathons are the perfect goal races to help you guide your training. The distance is just long that everyone, Olympic to Ironman, will take it seriously. You're more likely to get out the door for that hour and a half run with you have a half marathon coming up in two weeks. And it's short enough that you can race one or two per month and use them as excellent training events. Schedule 5 and 10k's as training events for your goal half marathons and pretty soon you have a full race calendar of fun training events (and affordable, for a change).

Train Like a 40k Time Trialist
I see a lot of athletes, especially northern, trainer-bound folks, get themselves into trouble during the winter by either trying to hold on to the endurance they built during the season or by trying to get a head start on building the endurance required for their races next season. Go back to my advice to make it fun. Remember that warm weather is a loonnng way away. Recall my advice to conserve your mental energy for later in the season. Accept all this and realize that you just can't hold on to or build that long bike endurance without placing your mental strength at risk.

However, what you can do is build the cycling component that makes you a stronger, faster cyclist at all intensities: power at lactate threshold. Take a look at the roadies who blow by you on your Saturday ride. Those dudes in the front can crank it, hard, for several minutes at a time yet their longest "long" rides are often 50-60 miles, pedestrian by Ironman standards. How do they do it? They ride FAST, often.

Its very simple, if you want to ride fast you have to ride fast. Don't worry about fast + far for now. Plenty of time for building far when it warms up in the spring.

Note: immediately after writing this guidance I had a conversation with a new client, where I repeated this emphasis on high intensity cycling during the off-season. She noted this was counter to the more common guidance to work on "base" during the winter.

My comments:

Raising your watts at lactate threshold raises your watts at all intensities. "A rising tide floats all boats."

Base building training and lactate threshold training are not mutually exclusive. They exist along the same range of ways to invest your training time, with LT on the short end and base training on the longer, higher volume end. In a perfect world we would be able to put in large aerobic volume during the off-season. However, REALITY is winter, indoors, family, holidays, and an upcoming 6-9 month training season. Reality dictates that you adopt a training method that is extremely time efficient and does make you faster. Interval training at or near lactate threshold fulfills these requirements.

If you live in a good climate and have the personal schedule to support it, go ahead and keep up that long ride schedule. But I encourage you to do the fun stuff that you were too torqued about during the season to do.

My "Get Faster on the Bike Keys:"

If you want to ride fast, you have to ride fast.

It's ok to ride too hard. It's ok to ride too far. It's ok to ride to hard and too far, as long as you recover afterwards.

You can't start riding hard and fast too soon. Don't worry, your body will catch up and you have plenty of time later in the year to do more volume. For now, ride like a kid and enjoy going fast!

Your Limiter Season Plan
Let's gather all of these ideas into "Big Picture" and weekly guidance:

Big Picture

Go to Active.com and do searches for 5, 10k's and half marathons in Oct-March in your area. Register for an A priority half marathon, preferably in March. Register for B priority halfs in January and February. Register for C priority 5 and 10k's to use as training races for these B and A events.

Look into your local cycling resources. Is there a local time trial series that runs through the early winter? A regular group ride that meets on Saturdays or Sundays? Can you yourself offer to lead or create cool rides for your local tri club? Register for a February or March road race or organized century/half century and use this event as motivation through the winter.

Explore your local swimming resources? Is there a well-respected local coach you can meet with? Is this coach offering a group swim clinic?

Weekly

Swim: 2 sessions per week, as drills/recovery. Stronger swimmers may consider not swimming at all, in the interest of saving time.

Bike: 3 rides per week, as 2 x Functional Threshold (FT, focused on increasing watts at lactate threshold) + 1 x 2.5-3.5hr weekend ride. I prefer group rides and to mix up the terrain, keeping it fresh and fun. My rule is "the shorter I go, the harder I ride." Very simple.

Run: 3-5 sessions per week as 1 x Long (1:30-2hrs, hilly), 1 x Hilly Tempo, 1-2 x Strides session or a brick . The key is to schedule a run week you can execute consistently, week after week. Let volume be a result of relatively high frequency.

Stretching and Core work: 3-4 x core/wk, stretch nightly. Just make it a habit, dropping to the floor in the evening.

 

[Synpax]

Where are you getting this content from?

Grats on your due.

BTW - there is no 'off season.'

 

[Gymgurl]

There is none for me....I wanted to save these articles so I could read them later...so afterwards I just thought I would post them and maybe they would be of interest to others. Just various sites off the web....