Taking a break

We get regular requests for winter training programmes to start almost as soon as the current season is done and these usually lead to prolonged discussions between coach and athlete about the benefits of an end of season break.

I can understand why, when you have a had a great season, you would want to hold on to the fitness that you have achieved but please take a moment to consider the following statement:

"The next step after a peak is always down"

One of the fundamental principles upon which all training programmes are based is that of adaptation. Without the opportunity to repair the body (and the mind) from a prolonged period of activity the result will be a plateau and performance will rarely improve. In fact it may go downhill anyway.

Of the athletes that go straight into a winter programme, a large percentage manage to make it through to January or February by which time they are injured, ill or they have lost their motivation. Either way the result is usually a longer period of inactivity than the planned rest period would have been at the end of the season!

An interesting project is to ask the athletes who don’t want to rest, just what they are afraid of, by wanting to continue training. Some of the responses include:

1. Fear of losing fitness
Yes you will lose some but not that much, in 4 weeks, maybe 10% of muscle strength, no muscular endurance in 2 weeks and can be maintained with 3 sessions per week @ 70%mhr

2. Fear of gaining weight
Yes if you reduce activity and carry on eating the same you will gain weight

3. Fear of losing ground on your rivals
It will happen sooner or later if you don’t take time off

4. Too much time on their hands
Make contact with your partner, children, friends etc, there’s lots to do if you think for a moment

Personally I don’t advocate complete inactivity for 4-6 weeks but certainly for the first 1-2 weeks, followed by a low level training programme. The goal for all athletes is to be mentally and physically refreshed by the time they start again and ready to scale new heights.

About the author of this blog post
Article reproduced courtesy of Simon Ward, founder and head coach of Thetriathloncoach.com. Since he started coaching in 1995 Simon has helped over 100 triathletes complete Ironman events including several Hawaii qualifiers (& finishers). In addition he has experience of working with elite and age group athletes who race at the standard distance. Thetriathloncoach.com offers tailor made training programs to help athletes of all abilities reach their goals. IronmanPB.com provides athletes with the tools to set a new personal best and share their knowledge in an online community.

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