Gallery
There are 7 stages for all year round fitness.
Stage 1 – The Preparation stage
Stage 2 – The Foundation Period
Stage 3 – Building more Base
Stage 4 - The Pre Competition Phase
Stage 5 – The Taper
Stage 6 – The Competition
Stage 7 – The Transition Period
Transition period is the period after the season has ended to take active rest to recover from the competition season.
So you are mentally and physically fresh when the new season starts.
During the transition period or post competition phase intensity is reduced for 1-3 weeks also called a reverse taper. After a long season lasting more than 8 months or an Ironman triathlon you should build up the training frequency but not the intensity before considering other sports or forms of exercise.
If your last event includes some vacation after then walking pack packing surfing should be considered. Make it fun non-competitive, don’t record heart rates or times go on feel.
Mind
Your mind also needs to mentally refresh your mind just like re-booting your lap top. Forget about the good the bad and the ugly of your last competition.
Bike
Spend time tweaking your bike position, because you will not be hammering it (you should not be) you can feel if the subtle changes in position make a difference. You are less likely to injure yourself going easy with a new bike position.
Run
Complete run drills on soft surfaces to improve leg turnover and reduce your foot contact time.
Mistakes to avoid
What were my limiting factors? Write them all done and what you need to do to correct them, this is your own personal commitment.
Training without a break can mean you are the fastest on Christmas day and then ill on New Year’s Day. ((99% of athletes who train through and improve their fitness in January don’t keep improving to the spring.
Putting on weight is like digging a hole in the garden and never filling it, you have to keep walking around it and one day you will fall into it!
We are creatures of habit so reduce your calorie intake and go hungry once in a while in the off season rather than put on extra pounds (kilos).
Putting on several kilos allows you to rebuild yourself and gives you a little in reserve for the winter and extra strength, too much will take a lot longer to lose. Remember 3,500 calories equals 1 pound in weight to lose it you have to run about 35 miles or reduce intake and increase energy expenditure.
What motivated athletes fail to realize is we sometimes have to lose fitness to get to new heights otherwise we get stuck on the plateau and then can’t go any higher.
Do you need to improve your stroke efficiency then book yourself onto a swim technique course? This will help you go faster and save energy for the bike and the run and make the swim more enjoyable.
Lacked strength then join a gym need more flexibility go to Pilates or yoga, need to improve dynamic strength go to circuit training.
Failing to ignore your limiters over the winter will result in you under performing next season.