Now race season is nearly over and it will soon be time to treat yourself to a few drinks and the odd morning lie-in. This is also the period of the year when training time might be significantly reduced, as you back off a little and let your body have a rest. But before you ditch your training kit and replace it with your PJs and Netflix, let’s take a lookat how to transition into the post-season recovery phase.
It’s right to think that you should decrease the number of training hours, but you need to be careful not to completely switch off and go from a full-on schedule to complete rest. This is because our bodies like consistency and so it makes sense to gradually pull back.
One of the most common observations among my athletes is that they struggle with not knowing what to do with their time, and that they think they should continue to train because other athletes will be doing more than them. But an effective post-season plan will help you to physically and mentally cope with having more time on your hands.
The transition into the off-season allows us to try new workouts and perhaps even go completely off course and try new sports. So don’t be afraid to say ‘yes’ to activities that you might have been scared to try during your triathlon-focused season.
One final key element of the post-season objectives is to review your season and think about what plans you want to have in place for next year. Consider if you achieved your targets, whether your training was effective, are you happy with the results compared to training time, whether you need to shake up your training schedule….Finding answers to these questions will help you to create training plans and racing objectives for next year, and is one of the most important parts of the preparation phase, so spend time getting this right.
And don’t forget – always include a warm-up (5-8mins of gradually building intensity from easy to vigorous) and cool-down (3-5mins of easy cardio followed by stretches) to each session.
Below you can download your 4-week training plan. On the days that you do circuits, use the session plan above. Warm up first and then repeat this circuit of exercises 2-3 times through.