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Is this your off-season?

Have you ever considered viewing yourself as an athlete, and the training you do as a “sport”? I often ask this question when I’m discussing training programs with members, primarily when individuals state they feel “burnt out” or that their exercise routine has become boring or stale.
It’s something to consider – that is, treating your workout program like an athlete treats a competitive sport season. This type of approach allows you to work on different components of your fitness over the long-term - and takes into consideration the unavoidable “peaks and valleys” or plateaus we all experience from time to time. When looking at your training schedule from this “athlete’s perspective” it is interesting to note that it will be divided into at least three, and sometimes four (or even more in certain sports) segments.

Let’s use a hockey player for an example and analyze a typical season. In all likelihood, a year would be divided into four segments (each one may be a different length or duration) including: pre-season (2-3 months); in-season (about 6 months); postseason (2 months) and an off-season (1-2 months). In each of these “seasons” a different type of training regime would be applicable. Starting with the pre-season, this segment would generally include the two to three months immediately prior to the in-season (let’s assume Jun-Aug).
During this period of time, in particular the early portion of the preseason, a hockey player would likely not be doing much if any skating, but working primarily on strength training. This is a great time to work on muscle groups that require strengthening, and is the ideal time to add the muscle mass necessary for the grind of the long in-season.

To get even more technical, an athlete might further divide the pre-season into two phases – early pre-season and late pre-season; and focus on power/strength building in the early preseason and then “taper” the strength training into a program that focuses a bit more on speed, coordination and flexibility style training. Page 3 of 4 At around the middle of the pre-season period a hockey athlete should start focusing more on on-ice related skills that include speed bursts (plyometric training) agility and timing skills, coordination, and start to work on cardiovascular fitness. As cardio training emphasis increases strength training decreases, and the cardio would involve both speed and distance work. As the pre-season period ends the hockey athlete should be primed and ready for the start of training camp.
The in-season is generally defined from the start of training camp to the end of play (hopefully after a long run through the playoffs.) Most athletes today go to training camp “in shape” and work on hockey related skill development and not fitness development at camp. The amount of time spent in the weight room should decrease at this time of the season, and the focus should shift more to range-of-motions exercises that mimic hockey moves.
The in-season is also the start of regular stretching workouts (to better reduce injuries and to speed recovery after games and practices) and a time for weight training workouts that help to maintain strength gained in the pre-season. Athletes who attempt to gain weight or strength at this time of the season are usually in trouble because the rigors of games usually diminish the prospect of adding mass through in-season strength training.

As the season progresses workouts should be complementary to the game and practice schedule, and not detract from the athletes performance. Too many athletes expect too much from their body, and as a result tend to overtrain - or get injured during training - which is a cardinal sin for a pro. As the season ends, a hockey athlete is likely pretty “beat up” by the wear and tear of the season and will require a month or two of post-season recovery. (Some athletes will schedule an off-season immediately after the in-season and take up to a month or so to rest, take it easy and recover. Others, usually those who don’t go deep into the play-offs will use the time immediately after the season to work on specific areas - which usually involves activities very different from their sport.) For example, many hockey players will stay away from the ice, but engage in a cycling program that uses the quads in a different capacity than skating. Flipping the off-season with the post-season is a personal decision made after reviewing the results (or lack of) during the in-season period. As the off-season ends the athlete resumes the pre-season training regime and the cycle continues.

This example has been generalized, but it can relate to you if you’ve been working out for longer than six months with the same program. Your body will respond better to the training you’re giving it if you vary your workouts. If you’ve been giving your body a steady diet of “in-season” type training for over six months you likely aren’t getting the same results that you achieved at an earlier stage of the training. Sure, some of you may be increasing weights or reps, or changing a few exercises, but you might be better served by making a more significant adjustment to your program. Think about it - if you want athletic style results you’ve got to be giving yourself athletic style training. See David or one of the other trainers for more information if you’re interested in setting up a long-term training program.

Some of the stated intrinsic reasons include: “exercising makes me feel good about myself”, “I’m a better person after a good workout”, “I’m more relaxed and focussed when I work out”, etc.... Whey then do so many people have difficulty sticking with a program?
The shift from extrinsic motivation (i.e. to lose some weight) to an intrinsic motivation (exercising regularly makes me feel good) gets derailed. For example, some people may get bored with the exercise before they internalize the benefits of being regularly active; or they go on a vacation or miss a couple of workouts because of meetings, etc.... There are many more reasons, but what about a solution?

Some suggestions: Find something you like to do – be it weights, aerobics, running. Set reasonable goals. Keep modifying your program. Get a buddy. Train for a special event (i.e. marathon, bike tour, etc...). There is no substitute for good advice. Read reputable exercise journals (be careful what you read in a magazine or on the internet – you need to filter the information and determine what is legitimate and what isn’t).
Better still, talk to Boze or one of Boze’s experienced trainers. Let them know what you want from your training and they will help refine your program.