For professional athletes, the off-season generally starts with the last competition of the year. It\u2019s the period between the last competition of a year and the start of the competitive season in the new year. Of course, that can vary considerably depending on your training and event schedule. However, the off-season generally starts in late summer or autumn. It doesn\u2019t matter exactly when \u2013 the important thing is that athletes include it in their training schedule.<\/p>\n
Many endurance athletes have a 3:1 or 2:1 training schedule, where a recovery or rest week is included every two or three weeks. However, that cannot be compared with a real off-season. During this planned week in the season, athletes\u2019 training is considerably less intensive than during the training weeks, to allow the muscles to recover. But they still follow a strict training and even nutrition plan<\/a>. However, this week is not enough for your body and mind to fully recover. Off-season is different. It is a conscious break and neither training nor nutrition plans<\/a> are followed strictly.<\/p>\n Forget about your impending guilty conscience for a moment, and let\u2019s look at the positive aspects of the off-season: you avoid over training and a physical block. It can be easy to overtrain with the prolonged high performance that you demand from your body during training months. This can lead to a sudden drop in performance, coupled with aching muscles, reluctance, and possibly constantly recurring injuries. Your body is exhausted from training too intensively, for too long, or too often, and it is important not to ignore these warning signs. We\u2019ll tell you how much time you should plan for this recovery phase to give your body the well-deserved rest it needs.<\/p>\n Just like when it starts, the length of the off-season can differ from one person to the next. In competitive sports, a break of two to four weeks is often scheduled, but the training break can even be as long as six weeks.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t worry: when we talk about a break, we don\u2019t mean you\u2019re not allowed to move, and should just sit on the couch, shoveling in heaps of unhealthy food. Getting moving and eating healthily are a matter of course, even in the off-season. This phase is not just about giving your muscles time to recover \u2013 it also does your mind good. It has to sustain training motivation over months at a time. After these exertions, the mind also needs a break, otherwise you risk burnout.<\/p>\n Many athletes fear losing fitness during the off-season. Naturally your fitness will drop compared with your training peak. But at the same time, your levels of physical and mental exhaustion also drop \u2013 which will make you fitter in the long run. This will also make you stronger for the upcoming season. You develop your potential by moving between effort and recovery. While you take a break and allow yourself to recover, your muscles or even your cardiovascular system are able to grow. And off-season doesn\u2019t necessarily mean doing nothing. We\u2019ve put together a few tips for you about how to make the most of the off-season.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve already said, many endurance athletes unfortunately focus more on losing out on training successes, rather than giving their body the well-earned rest it needs during off-season. But off-season actually only means not taking part in active intensive training. You can still pursue your sport, but in a more restorative way.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve put together a couple of tips that guarantee you won\u2019t get bored, and help you plan an off-season that works for you.<\/p>\n During the season your schedule is jam-packed with training sessions. Loads of things just fall by the wayside. So, during the off-season you have time to go to the movies or the theater, go to live sports events, or just wander round town. Consciously enjoy these activities. This will help you connect off-season with positive memories and start your new training phase mentally stronger.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re training, discipline is the be-all and end-all. And that\u2019s not just during training sessions, it\u2019s also when you\u2019re planning your free time. You go to bed early, eat a healthy and balanced diet, avoid parties and alcohol. But now you don\u2019t need to think about the next training session tomorrow. You can indulge yourself a bit. Whether that means going to a fancy restaurant, or a small glass of wine \u2013 it\u2019s time to enjoy yourself!<\/p>\n Hand on your heart: you want to try something new again, like surfing, bouldering, skiing<\/a>, or yoga. Or maybe you\u2019ve been planning a hiking tour<\/a> with your family or friends for an age. Now you have the opportunity to dabble in a sport that you otherwise wouldn\u2019t have time for.<\/p>\n During the training season you often have very little, if any, time for family and friends. So, catch up on lost time during the off-season and arrange to meet up again. Or maybe go on holiday with your loved ones to spend some quality time with them.<\/p>\n Anticipation is half the pleasure. Particularly if you struggle to switch off, planning the next season can help to get some rest and clear your mind. So, start planning upcoming competitions and book the associated trips and accommodation. This will help you to start the new competition season highly motivated.<\/p>\n As you can see, the off-season can be a fantastic opportunity to physically and mentally have a break and prepare for the upcoming season. Indulge yourself with some rest and start the next competition or training season even stronger.<\/p>\n We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a good off-season and say goodbye for the winter break. See you next year!<\/p>\n Image sources: shutterstock_314302445, shutterstock_691058683, pexels-run-ffwpu-2402777<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019ve packed as much training into the year as we could. Now it\u2019s time to give our bodies chance to recover. We know the best way for you to finish this training season, and that the off-season doesn\u2019t just mean lying around on the couch. Now read for yourself the best way to end your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[338,331,428,430],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21809\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=21809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21809\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21828,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21809\/revisions\/21828\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21800\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=21809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=21809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=21809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Give](\"https:\/\/pjuractive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shutterstock_691058683_1-960x641.jpg\")
How long should the off-season last?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Laze around on the couch during off-season? As if!<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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