Tips to Minimize Winter Detraining

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• If you’re a seasoned athlete (training consistently over a period of a year or more), don’t worry about taking a training break of up to two weeks; your fitness losses will not be too large, and you will regain them relatively rapidly. However, fitness losses for novice trainers or those with a low fitness base will be proportionately greater and harder to recoup.

 

• For breaks of over two weeks, you’ll need some kind of intense training stimulus such as HIIT to avoid a bigger decline in your fitness. Perform 7 x 30-second intervals, it’s just as effective as 3 x 20-minute hard efforts.

 

• Perform any interval training in a manner that most closely replicates the type of event you’re preparing for (sometimes referred to as ‘specificity of training’). This means that if you’re a cyclist, performing intervals on your bike will give you the best adaptation and fitness gains. Runners, on the other hand, should run!

 

• During any period where you drastically cut down on training volume, remember you will also need to curtail your calorie intake in order to prevent the performance-blunting effects of increased body fat. Emphasis on high quality proteins, fruits and vegetables and a reduction in carbohydrates, even the whole unprocessed ones for the fact that levels of activity are much lower than norm.

 

• If time is tight, maximizing convenience and opportunities to train is key. A ready set up stationary bike, turbo trainer or treadmill in the house or garage can make all the difference.

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