Traithlon Training - The Off Season

You've worked hard all year and crushed it in some great races

. Now you've just finished your last competition of the year and you're ready for a well-deserved break. But how do you take advantage of some downtime without losing your fitness edge? Well, I've had a lot of people asking me that question lately. So here's some simple, but great pointers.

It's important to take two or three weeks off. But by "off" I don't meant that you should sit the whole time on the sofa watching football and eating pizza. You don't want to be like a bear in hibernation! You need to keep moving.

The first reason for this is that continued, but light, exercise will do a better job of helping your body recover from a very competitive season than if you went into a complete rest mode. Exercise will help to keep you loose. You'll feel better as you recover from your last race.

Second, your lymphatic system, which helps lubricate your joints, needs movement to function well. So if you don't have a good balance of rest and activity, you will likely have more joint pain in the off-season and a harder time putting your body back into gear when the new competitions start.

Third, because you've worked so hard all year to get your body into top form, you definitely don't want to go back to square one. You need to rest, but you need to do it in a way that helps you stay in shape.

So here are a few of my suggestions:

Keep Swimming: Swimming is probably the most skill-intensive part of triathlons. It's crucial not to lose the touch and feel of the water, or your technique. You can swim less and at slower paces during your break, but stay in the water. Keep concentrating on your form and technique.

Stay on the Bike: I know how hard it can be to spend long hours on a stationary bike. It's boring! But it's important to keep pedaling. My recommendation is that you do intervals of about five minutes in a high gear and at a low cadence. You should aim for about 55-75 rpms. A slow rate with a high gear will help maintain leg strength.

Work on Building Overall Strength: Maintaining your overall strength will help you avoid injuries when the new season starts. What I suggest is to concentrate on other planes of motion that you normally don't use in triathlon competition. Two important areas are the shoulders and the hips. You can strengthen your shoulders by using dumbbells and you can strengthen your hip area by doing twisting exercises. These are parts of the body that you don't use as much in triathlons, but they involve stabilizing muscles. Keeping your overall body strong will help you avoid injury.

So, take the time to rest, but don't just crash in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream. And remember to ROCK ON!

by: Kerry Sullivan

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