You don’t have to bike all year round to get the success you deserve. In fact, the truth is, you get to be more successful when you allow yourself a decent off-season break. Letting your body recuperate and your muscles recharge, means you will return stronger than ever.
Knowing how to utilize an effective recovery phase as part of a good, well-planed preparation is very important. You need to also learn how to properly design and execute this transition/recovery phase by including elements from your daily life such as sleep, diet, workout routine etc.
When talking about this phase, you should all imagine taking a break from your periodic training program and reduce both, the volume and intensity of your training. This break is supposed to help every cyclist to recover the body from all recent race season and reenergize you physically and mentally as well.
Experts recommend that cyclists, runners and swimmers too, should always include some strength and resistance training in order to keep in shape the legs and all other parts of the body that contribute to a better cycling performance. This article provides you the necessary tips on getting started the most effective transition phase possible.
Start the season easily
This is one of the most important things to remember once you start your off-season, transitional phase. During this time, you should not engage yourself into long strength training seasons by lifting big weights and making your muscles unable to handle more work. You should rest in an active way! Of course, you should expect to increase a little bit more the intensity of your strength workout after the first couple of weeks in order for this phase to be effective and on the other hand prevent your muscles from injuries and soreness. Keep in mind that the recovery season must at least last for about 4 weeks. It’s recommended to last from 4 to 12 weeks.
Take time to check your health
During this transitional phase, check your health and be sure you are perfect to go and contuse your cycling plans. Get your annual checkup with a panel of blood work in order to compare the results with any possible issue you may have later in the season. If you need any dental work (due to the fact sport drinks, chews and gels can significantly damage your teeth), or any other medical care, then the off season is the best time to close all these occupations. During the active season, when you’re constantly training hard and involved in all kind sport events, there is not time to add some health-related issues on your daily weekly schedule.
Eat right and sleep more
One important part of the whole recovery process is the diet you decide to follow. Of course, consuming your current diet is not a bad idea. But, unless you want to gain weight, you should always adjust it a little bit more. Sticking to a protein and carbohydrate-oriented diet is a must. But, the amount of the food you eat containing these nutritional values should be decreased. Instead, try to add more veggies and fruits. You need all kinds of elements in order to feed your muscles right and also, handle the recovery training program which will prepare you for the real deal. Good post-ride muscle recovery snacks always include smoothies commonly containing Greek yogurt, bananas and cereal. Also, adding chicken filet or turkey into your daily meat intake, is a smart thing to do.
…sleeping
It’s a well-known fact that cyclists, and any other endurance-sport fanatic must sleep for at least 70 hours a week. So, try to follow this rule during your off-season too and let your muscles completely recover. When you allow your body to sleep for at least 10 hour a day, it produces hormones that are essential to any type of physical recovery. Many studies indicate that when decreasing your sleeping time by 1-2 hours; it can potentially slow down your reaction time. Try to cut off any high-octane beverages and reduce your alcohol intake. They can both prevent you stay longer at the deep sleep phase which is critical for muscle and bone recovery.