Off-Season Training Update/ 2 Week Transition
- bradleyhaag
- Nov 10, 2014
- 3 min read
I must confess, I get bored easily….
Especially when it comes to working out. For this reason I rarely do the same strength workout twice and am always looking for ways to make endurance workouts more exciting. Beyond the daily variety, I also break up my training in “blocks” that build up into a bigger plan. In triathlon speak this is commonly referred to as periodization. While during the race season I follow this more traditional triathlon periodization model, currently I would consider my training blocks more along of the lines of strength periodization. Or better yet a hybrid of both strength and endurance training.
As discussed in this post, I spend the last in a 6 week training block prepping my body for the upcoming season, improving my run fitness (running just one day week), and refining my strength training technique. Having recently finished this training block, I wasn’t quite ready to jump right into another block. So I decided to take 2 weeks off in “transition” period. Just as the name implies a transition is a period of time where you move from one block of training to another.
For triathletes a transition period is usually after a big race and as used as a way to rest both physically and mentally before the next training block. For my hybrid of strength and endurance training I believe a transition period is also needed to receive the same physical and mental benefits of rest.
While everyone has a different definition of transition period. Here are the guidelines I follow:
Stay fit my moving but not necessarily working out. Meaning instead of creating or finding a workout I simply stay fit by commuting on my bike to the store, playing around in my training studio in between clients, or going for a walk with the dog.
Sleep more. During a transition period I take naps and sleep in when I can to ensure I’m fully recovered for the next training block.
Plan for the next training block. During a transition period I start to research and plan what I want to achieve through training. I ask myself what I want to achieve overall and with the next training block. Questions like do I want to: Be a better triathlete? Increase my 1 rep max on the squat? be able to do 10 muscle-ups on the rings? Are all examples that float through my mind when planning for the next training block. Once I figure out what I want I start to research the absolutely most effective way to reach those results with the littlest amount of effort.
Keep nutrition clean. When I’m not regularly training with 1-2 workouts a day I make the extra effort to eat clean to avoid gaining excess fat. For me this means lowering my carbohydrates to around 100g a day.
Try 1-2 workouts you've always wanted to do. For me this was the 300 workout. I've always wanted to do it, but knew it would require a good amount of rest afterwards so could never just throw it in my weekly training. But during a transition I could afford the extra rest days and let me tell you.. After doing it I was sore for a good 3 days.
Comments