All this talk about the football season has started to make me think….Sports seasons are set up perfectly for athletes to prepare themselves, compete, and then rest their bodies and minds. The schedule has them set up to be in the best shape possible when they need to be, and then well rested to do it all over again for the following season. If it works so well for the pros, why don’t you do it? Maybe you’ve never thought about it, but training in seasons isn’t just for athletes.
It’s impossible to be in the best shape of your life all year round. You’ll get burnt out quick. Plus you need something to work for, or else where’s the fun? How can you measure your success?
The goal is to be in the best shape possible right? Well athletes the most fit people on earth. Follow their lead and start thinking like an athlete. I don’t care if the highest level of competition you’ve ever played was the local adult softball league.
To become as fit as an athlete, you have to consider yourself one as well. You’re probably thinking….Well where’s my season at? What am I training for? Here’s your answer. In the big picture you’re training for LIFE. Since that sounds incredibly cliche and unmotivational, let’s create our own season.
Literally any activity that you think of can have a season. There are the obvious sports, like basketball, baseball/softball, football, or soccer. You can easily find recreational leagues for those.
Now let’s think outside the box here. What if you like to mountain climb, golf, canoe, bike, play tennis or simply lift heavy weight? There are seasons for those sports too! You just have to find specific events, or plan your own events.
Sometimes you will have to create your own season. You can mold it however you want. Some sports even have multiple seasons per year. For example, professional tennis players have matches all around the world, multiple times per year. Each one of those matches would be considered a separate season. A season just consists of three things: preseason, competition period, and off season.
Competition Period
When you’re creating your own season first you have to research events that you want to train for. If you’re going to play in a basketball league, maybe you’ll only have one season the whole year. That’s because sports like basketball consist of multiple competitions and then a championship.
You can train for anything though. A competition period can consist of one single event, like a trip to the mountains to go rock climbing, or an extended canoeing trip down the Ohio river. You can be as creative as you want with your season, and what you’re training for.
Many sports have multiple seasons per year. In that case you’ll have multiple competitions, events, or leagues that you are going to participate in.
To have a successful season you have to know what you’re working for. Then you can figure out how to get into the best shape of your life for it.
Preseason
After figuring out what your competition periods are for the year, plan your training schedule. Let’s say your first competition is a 5k race. Depending on your current physical shape, you might have to start training a few weeks up to a few months before.
This time is basically for you to go all out and work your hardest in order to get stronger, faster and leaner. The goal is to do everything possible to get into competition shape. The purpose of the competition period is to motivate you during your preseason training.
Post Season
After all that hard work it’s time to rest. This phase of the season is just as important as the rest. Even if it’s just a few days to get away and relax, your mind and body will thank you.
In the post season you don’t have to be completely inactive. You can actively rest by doing yoga, low impact training, and mobility exercises.
I hope this article was informative and opened up your eyes to the fact that anyone can train in seasons, not just elite athletes. It’s such an optimal way to schedule your training because it gives motivation and also forces your body to rest and recover. If you liked this article please take a moment to share it on facebook. If you’re wondering what to work towards in your season a good place to start would be on of these 5 fitness events. You might also be interested in running a 5k.
About Adam Pegg
