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The off-season is important for athletes because it is important to take a break from intense training and allow the body to rest and recover properly. If you actively participate in season-long activities, you’re all too familiar with how drained your body can feel when the season ends. From opening day to your final game, you choose to play through annoying little bumps and bruises and tweaks and pops with minimal downtime.
Come the off-season, it’s time for the body to indulge in some much-needed active recovery, getting adequate rest, while at the same time implementing an individualized, low-impact training routine.
While athletes are still training during the off-season, their personalized exercise program calls for reducing the intensity of training while increasing other forms of exercise, such as mobility and flexibility work. And although training is still in motion during the offseason, it’s a great time to work on weak areas, address imbalances, and make overall improvements through individualized training and rehabilitation methods.
Here, three sports trainers offer their best advice on how to succeed in the off-season so you can take the best version of your athletic self onto the ‘field’ next season.
A look at offseason training
Training in the off-season allows you to get better, stronger and faster when done correctly. “Off-season training should be less impactful and should allow athletes to improve their aerobic conditioning and improve aspects of their strength and flexibility work,” said Matthew West, assistant cross country coach, NASM personal trainer. , says FRC Mobility Specialist. , and the owner of www.westmovez.com. During the off-season “motion and strength work can increase, intense anaerobic work can be limited, and athletes can spend time working on limiting the factors that cause them problems during the season.” can.” they say.
During the off-season, West likes to have his athletes spend more time rebuilding the core, those all-important strength buckets (push, pull, hinge, squat, rotate, anti-rotate, etc.). Additional focus on joint mobility work while filling.
Keep in mind, however, that while every athlete (regardless of the sport) will be actively resting during the off-season, their training programs will vary based on their individual circumstances such as their sport, goals, past injuries, etc. And should be based on weaknesses.
Active Rest: Balancing Recovery and Maintaining Fitness
While rest is important for everyone, an athlete who wants to improve their game, break PRs, and become the best athletic version of themselves, conditioning training in the off-season must be a priority. Although rest is part of the program, “recovery should be an active process,” West says.
Basically, recovery doesn’t mean slowing down and being active. This means performing at a milder intensity than the weather. “Zone 2 conditioning work is the best recovery tool in my opinion. I want athletes to perform in different ways while in the low-effort zone,” says West.
One example, West says, involves moving in multiple planes during warm-up and cool-down, and then exploring rowers, air-dyne bikes, medicine balls, and ranges of motion that may have been neglected during the season. .
An athlete’s off-season program should be designed by the sports trainer to ensure that their needs are being met and that the athlete is getting the most out of the off-season.
Recovery tools at home
Today there are useful at-home recovery tools to help speed up the healing process and prevent injuries. Terence Miller, a former high school football coach and former running back at Northeastern State University, recommends an athlete invest in a foam roller and be sure to use it often. This tool, which can be found in most gyms these days, helps break down tight fascia and loosen muscles, thereby increasing flexibility which can equate to better sports performance and injury prevention. Is. “A massage gun and heating pad will also be beneficial for your at-home rehabilitation,” says Miller.
In addition to a foam roller, West recommends using active recovery tools like a light medicine ball, stretching, and a yoga block for mobility work. It can be a great way to keep the body flexible and strong.
Adequate hydration (grab a Gatorade)
As always, without proper hydration, performing at a high level is nearly impossible. “If an athlete is even one percent dehydrated, performance will decrease,” he says. Michael Wittig, ISSA CPT, sports performance expert, and ntural pro nine-time bodybuilding champion. And that goes for the off-season as well.
“Hydration is critical for optimal performance,” explains Wittig. “The athlete should try to stay hydrated before, during and after exercise.” He recommends. So, grab your Gatorade and water bottle because your performance depends on it.
“Typically, an athlete should drink six to one ounces of fluid every 12 to 15 minutes,” Wittig says, and after exercise, Wittig recommends that for every pound of weight an athlete loses during the activity. should drink 16 oz. “It’s also important to replace lost electrolytes when the athlete is exposed to extreme temperatures and high humidity,” he says.
“Athletes can drink sports drinks. Gatorade To stay hydrated, fill up on carbohydrates and electrolytes,” says Wittig. Investing in buying Gatorade in bulk will ensure you never lack for proper hydration.
Not Wittig’s offseason training
- Don’t neglect off-season training and recovery: “It’s easy for young athletes to overlook recovery practices,” says Wittig, “but if you want a long career, developing good recovery habits now is encouraged.” “As athletes age, recovery is even more important and it’s encouraged to develop good habits to reduce injury rates later in life,” says Wittig. And the key to optimal recovery during the off-season for any athlete is “incorporating recovery practices. All aspects of life including exercise form, exercise programming and duration, nutrition, hydration, and sleep habits.”
- Don’t allow yourself to “overtrain”: This is different from just training very hard for a long period of time, but allows for the accumulation of all the other “stressors” of life (environmental, psychological, physiological, and physical). Regular de-loads can help prevent overtraining, but also try to reduce stress in your life through other means. Overtraining can lead to injury.
- Don’t allow yourself to sleep less: Sleep is vital to recovery and maintaining optimal natural growth hormone levels. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night, and work to develop a good evening routine to help you get more sleep.
- Don’t overlook alternative recovery methods: Such as chiropractic care, deep tissue massage, foam rolling, hot/cold baths, cryotherapy, and other methods.
- Don’t “work through the pain”: If a player experiences unnatural pain, they should stop moving. If the pain persists, step away for the day and let it heal.
- Never train with sloppy form and poor technique: Be mindful of each movement and recognize the purpose of that movement. When athletes start going through the motions and don’t focus on the task at hand, form can slip leading to injury.
Keep in mind, “If an athlete’s offseason training is programmed correctly and proper attention is paid to recovery methods, strength and overall performance should be increased for the next competitive season,” says Wittig. .
This is sponsored content. M&F is not endorsing the websites or products listed in this article.
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