when to take a break
Hey there and happy Thursday! Today I'm back to talk about the fourth final sport season: the post-season. As a reminder, so far we've talked about the offseason (AKA training), the presason (AKA transition), and the in-season (AKA performance). So, what is the post-season?
The post-season is all about taking a BREAK. Remember, it's impossible to be full throttle on everything, all of the time! This break can look different for different athletes. It could be:
- A full break from climbing and training, for example, enjoying some the water during summer time and chilling (Riley's favorite)!
-Climbing purely for fun, no pressure or expectations on performance. Just enjoying climbing in the way you want!
-Focusing on a different sport. For example, if you enjoy both climbing and running, putting climbing on the back burner and training for running.
Keep your athletic longevity in mind: sometimes it's ok to take a couple of months off if you know it'll be better for you in the long run.
Sport Seasons Q&A
I got a ton of great questions about seasonal planning and wanted to answer a few here today.
1. What does maintenance look like in season?
Fortunately, strength is a hearty adaptation that sticks around for quite a while, so maintenance in season does not have to take up a lot of time. To maintain what was built offseason, the intensity should remain high, but the volume and frequency of sessions can decrease. This can take a little bit of experimentation to figure out what you need individually for maintenance.
For example, if you were able to perform a 3x5 of squats at 100lbs at the end of your training block, this is the level of strength you want to try and maintain. It's not a huge deal to lose a little bit of strength (within 10%) in season. You can attempt to increase the length of time between strength workouts. If you are able to maintain your 3x5 of squats at 100lbs even with performing a squat workout once every 10 days or two weeks, then you know this is an appropriate length of time. Conversely, if you are not able to maintain, then you know you should go back to a higher frequency.
2. How long does one deload after a performance peak, and what does that look like?
This is again going to depend on the individual and the level of energy both physically and mentally. For some, a couple of weeks of post-season could be a sufficient deload while for others a couple of months of rest could be in order. For some even, a post-season may not be necessary and more of a preseason format could be appropriate. Be honest with yourself and your relationship to climbing at the time, rather than where you think your relationship "should" be.
3. Two weeks before a trip, is it best to rest up or can you maximize recruitment somehow?
Leading up to a performance peak, a taper/deload period can be appropriate. This allows you to maintain the training gains while also keeping energy in reserves for performance. For deloading, similarly to in season maintenance, exercise intensity does not change but volume and frequency decrease. Incorporate more rest days during the weeks leading up to the trip and cut down the climbing and strength volume.
