According to the latest Industry Survey, 47% of British triathletes train between 10 and 12 months of the year. However, to ensure healthy, continuous year-on-year progression, athletes should plan their off-season effectively to ensure they find the right balance between recovering and recharging from the last season and setting themselves up to build into the next season.
Some athletes find stopping the most challenging part; others find restarting requires a lot of discipline. Either way, accepting that the off-season isn’t 'not training' but part of the training cycle can help both athletes use this time effectively and improve their performance in the upcoming season.
The off-season will likely last about six-12 weeks, depending on the athlete and their aims. Though many athletes complain about how they feel as they restart training again, they should see this as an opportunity to make some substantial gains for the following year.
Working on the foundations of health, nutrition and recovery during this off-season period is also essential. If the athlete can improve these areas, now is the time to do that and ensure they can take these key performance enablers into their next season as they add more training volume on top of them.
How to break down your training in the off-season
Here we outline an effective way to break that time down so you can effectively recover from the season you have had and prepare for the season ahead.
For the pre-season phase, consider balancing your training week around the areas you want to improve. So if you want to improve your swimming, you may choose to do three swims a week and only one bike and one run with two strength sessions.
How this phase is made up depends on your normal training schedule and the area(s) you want to focus on improving and ensuring good recovery habits to lead into the next season. A good end-of-season review will help you identify how you should prioritise this phase.
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