1. Make an Action Plan
After the completing the racing season, ask yourself what the newly anointed "off-season" should be about. Look back at the good things and the bad things that happened during your most recent competitive season. For many riders, the off-season holds the key to success for next year. However, without careful consideration of the types and amount of work you are doing on your time off, the off-season can also spell disaster.
Did your body break down toward the end? Were there nagging injuries all season long, or just toward the end? Could you ride forever but had trouble kicking it into high gear when you needed to? Accomplished, successful riders ask all these questions and many more. If you didn't create a yearly training plan, now is the time to start. Any good plan starts in the off-season. Plan out your race preparation, aerobic development and speed training. In most training plans, expect your off-season to be 6 to 8 weeks in length.
2. Recovery Leads to Greater Results
Overtraining is a quiet destroyer of cycling dreams. It sneaks up over time and eventually cripples your racing goals. An ample period of active rest is crucial to allow your body to heal from the stresses it just endured. Even better than that, it allows your body to achieve normalcy at a much higher level than before you started training. Called "training adaptation," the body after adequate rest integrates the benefits of training.
The ideal form of recovery does not mean lying about and watching TV. Active rest can incorporate brisk walks, light jogging or easy rides through the park. The key to active rest is to continue to stimulate your heart rate and blood flow without actively trying to increase stress on your body. It may not spark your competitive fire, but it will allow you to achieve greater results in the future.
3. Hit the Weight Room
For a lot of cyclists, weight training seems to work in opposition to your riding goals. But the off-season is a prime opportunity to increase your muscle strength and muscle endurance. Resistance training will address any strength issues that were exposed during the last season. Weight training is not always about getting bigger. Building a total-body routine of 12 to 15 exercises focused on high repetitions and low weight will initially increase your strength and soon increase your muscular endurance--a key to better cycling performance.
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