The Off Season – It’s ON For Making Big Gains!
The “off season” doesn’t get the credit or attention it deserves. This period of rest and less intense training gives you the necessary mental and emotional break, rejuvenating your motivation and outlook for the upcoming season. The decreased physical demand on your body allows it to heal from the various lingering tweaks and allows it to recover and recharge. What is often overlooked is that after the rest period the remainder of the “off season” is where the largest gains of the year can be made. Read on to find out how this period of training (often dubbed the Preparation Period) can provide the base in the three components of fitness to propel you to your best results ever!
Cardiovascular Fitness:
The Preparation Phase of training in the off season should be comprised of purely aerobic work that stresses mostly fat metabolism. This equates to all the training being done in heart rate zones 1 and 2 ONLY (determining heart rate training zones was discussed in a past Coachseiji.com article on Vurbmoto). This is the lowest intensity cardiovascular work that will be done all year but it has the longest workout durations and the highest total weekly volume.
The main purpose of this period (and the next two Base periods for that matter) is to increase your efficiency at operating in a purely aerobic state. Your body will increase the level of enzymes and other components of your blood to raise your ability to process oxygen and utilize fats. Cellular machinery is expanded to create more energy through purely aerobic pathways. Components in muscle cells and capillary density within muscle bellies are improved to aid in the extraction of oxygen from the blood.
Why does all this matter? Think of your fitness as a pyramid. The supporting base (hence the term “base” training) is comprised of this lower intensity aerobic work. The wider this base is, the taller your fitness peak can become and the longer this peak will continue. The more consistent and higher total volume your pure aerobic work is during this period, the greater the effect of your higher intensity training. This training period provides the foundation your body needs to get the most out later stages of training that involve interval work at the high end of your aerobic capacity and work near lactate thereshold.
As you can see, the cardiovascular work you do in the off season greatly influences the gains from hard work performed during the season.
Strength:
Similar to the cardiovascular component of fitness, the off season Preparation Phase is composed of low intensity, high volume strength training. This usually means three sets of each exercise, at least 20 repetitions per set, done multiple times per week (if your available training and recovery time allow). This is the highest volume of strength training you will have all year, done at the lowest intensity and the highest frequency.
Using the fitness pyramid analogy again, this period of strength training ultimately determines the height of your strength peak (raw strength). The high repetition, low load work can be viewed as “training to train.” Connective tissues such as cartilage and ligaments and soft tissues such as tendons increase their tensile strength during this training. This allows them to bear more load and more forceful movements that are required later in the training year without becoming injured. The more intense heavy period of lifting is where raw strength gains are made and the plyometric types of training is where power is developed. These require the structures supporting your joints and muscles are adequately prepared during the off season. The amount of total load each joint can withstand is wholly dependent on how much strength your connective and soft tissues have so no skimping here!
Flexibility:
This last component of fitness of often overlooked but it plays key roles in preventing injury and efficient movement during motocross riding and training activities. The low intensity training activities of the off season provide the perfect environment to make actual gains in flexibility.
The higher muscle tension generated in both high intensity aerobic and strength work counteract flexibility training. Gains in muscular strength in response to high level aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular training and the heavier, more aggressive strength training are accompanied by losses in range of motion and flexibility. It is difficult to make actual gains in flexibility during these times and it is all you can do to maintain the level of flexibility you had before embarking on the more intense training.
This makes the off season Preparation Phase the ideal, and really the only, time during the training year to make improvements in your flexibility and range of motion. Since all other training should be of lower intensity you can take the left over motivation and energy to improving in the flexibility department. This will allow you to remain injury free and efficiently moving when intensity of all other forms of training is on the rise. Remember you need to make flexibility gains during the off season because later during the season all you really can do is maintain what you have!
Hopefully you have realized that the “off season” is not really “off.” Although the intensities are low, the foundation laid down during this period can ultimately determine how high and how long your fitness peak will be later on during the season when it really counts. The Preparation Period is the supporting base to your training and results for the rest of the year so give it the attention it deserves. Be smart, put in your time doing the correct types of training and raise your physical performance during the season to new heights! Train smarter, not just harder!
Originally published on Vurbmoto.com