In-Season Training: Why Should you Train?
The reasoning behind training during the season to maximize strength, health, and focus.
Welcome to the first article of The Athlete’s Guide to In-Season Training. This is the first of a three part series that will focus on the benefits of in-season training, including why it is important and how you should go about your training.
This first article is focused on training strategies and the ways that an athlete can incorporate these strategies into their training to optimize their performance. Proper, focused training is the most effective way that an athlete can prepare themselves for game situations. In this article, we will cover the following topics:
The Purposes of In-Season Training
Staying Healthy and Preventing Injury
The Effects of In-Season Training on Preparation and Confidence
Let’s get into it.
The Purpose of In-Season Training
To explain it simply, the primary purpose of training in-season is to maintain and enhance athletic performance while minimizing the risk of injury.
Think about it this way: you put in all of the work in the offseason, only to stop training during your season. Halfway through the season, you’ve lost most—if not all—of the strength gains that you made, and you’ve lost several pounds of muscle as well. You try to perform the way you trained to in the off-season, but your body is not able to operate the way it was a couple months ago. You end up tweaking a muscle or two, or—worse—end up getting seriously injured.
Unfortunately, this scenario is all-too-common, most of the time because athletes are just not informed of the importance of training in-season.
On the flip side, you also have to be sure that you’re not overtraining to the point that it is going to take away from your performance in competitions. That is why proper programming is so important.
Now, let’s get into the ways that in-season training can help you to maintain your performance and stay healthy for the whole season
Maintaining Physical Conditioning
The risk of detraining during the competitive season is a significant concern if athletes stop training or significantly reduce their training volume and intensity.
Detraining refers to the loss of muscle or strength due to reducing or even completely stopping any form of exercise stimulus. In the context of the competitive season, where athletes are regularly engaged in competitions and practices, detraining can occur if they neglect their training regimen outside of scheduled activities.
This detraining can lead to a decline in strength, endurance, speed, and flexibility, compromising performance in competitions.
Moreover, detraining can increase the risk of injury as muscles weaken, coordination worsens, and mobility decreases.
To reduce the risk of detraining during the competitive season, all athletes should have some form of structured training program that includes regular strength and conditioning sessions, skill development drills, and recovery protocols, even during periods of intense competition.
Consistency in training is key to maintaining optimal performance levels and minimizing the potentially dangerous effects of detraining.
Skill Retention and Technique Refinement
Consistent training and lifting during the season play a critical role in allowing athletes to refine techniques and maintain the sport-specific skills that they have already developed.
While the competitive season is focused on performing well in actual games or events, it is key for athletes to not neglect the fundamental aspects of skill development and technique refinement. Regular strength and conditioning sessions, coupled with sport-specific drills, provide athletes with opportunities to maintain their skills, coordination, and muscle memory.
By incorporating lifting sessions into their routine, athletes can maintain the necessary strength and power to execute techniques effectively under the demands of competition. On top of that, consistent training allows athletes to address any issues that are exposed as they get into the season and start competing.
Through repetition and practice, athletes can achieve greater consistency and precision in their movements, ultimately translating to improved performance on the field or court. Additionally, maintaining a consistent training regimen during the season helps prevent skill degradation and ensures that athletes remain sharp and prepared to execute their techniques at a high level throughout the competitive season.
Overall, consistent training and lifting provide the foundation for athletes to refine their techniques, maintain sport-specific skills, and maximize their potential for success during the season.
Injury Prevention and Management
As the season progresses, athletes face an increased risk of injury due to the intensity of play and the repetitive movements required by their sport. These increased physical demands, combined with the pressure to perform at a high level, can lead to overuse injuries, muscle strains, ligament sprains, and a variety of other issues.
The intensity of competing often results in athletes pushing their bodies to the limit, increasing the likelihood of fatigue-related injuries and accidents during gameplay. The repetitive nature of many sports movements, such as running, jumping, cutting, and throwing, can place a ton of stress on specific muscles and joints, making athletes more likely to suffer from overuse injuries over time.
To reduce the risk of injury during the competitive season, a quality in-season training program incorporates various injury prevention strategies aimed at enhancing mobility, flexibility, and targeted strengthening.
Mobility work focuses on improving joint and muscle range of motion, helping athletes move more efficiently and reduce the risk of injury from being in a compromised position.
Flexibility exercises aim to reduce muscle tension, reducing the likelihood of strains and sprains from stressful movements.
Targeted strengthening exercises focus on maintaining strength and addressing weaknesses and imbalances in muscle groups. This will lead to improved strength and joint stability, reducing the risk of injury,
In addition to these injury prevention strategies, in-season training programs may also include components such as proper warm-up and cool-down routines, as well as post-game recovery routines.
Additionally, in-season training focuses on maintaining overall physical conditioning while modifying intensity or volume to accommodate injury status, thus reducing the likelihood of further injury.
Following an effective program and listening to their bodies, athletes can monitor progress and make necessary adjustments to their routines, ensuring optimal health and performance throughout the competitive season.
Mental Preparation and Confidence Building
In addition to physical conditioning, in-season training provides an opportunity for athletes to build and maintain mental resilience, focus, and confidence.
Consistent training can help athletes to have confidence that the skills and strength that they built in the off-season will carry over into the season and will be maintained.
Feeling good is a major part of playing well, as many will perform at their best in a situation where they feel confident and comfortable.
Being on a consistent schedule is another way for athletes to stay locked in and in the zone during the course of a long season. A structured training program helps them to maintain their focus on non-competition days and keeps athletes moving in the right direction of their performance goals.
Overall, in-season training is essential for sustaining performance levels, preventing injuries, optimizing skill development, managing recovery, and even maintaining mental focus throughout the course of a competitive season.
A well-designed in-season training program can contribute significantly to an athlete's success and longevity in their sport.
That is why I designed In-Season Training—A program designed specifically for athletes to maintain strength and muscle, keeping their bodies healthier and stronger throughout the course of a long season. This is a weightlifting program with a focus on strength and hypertrophy. The goal of this program is to provide adaptability in the training so that it can be used with any schedule by any athlete in any sport.
Interested? This program will be available for only $5 in the form of a paid subscription to The Athlete’s Guide. The program will be released following the final 2 articles of The Athlete’s Guide to In-Season Training.
Become a paid subscriber today to gain access to our previous programs and to receive this new program right in your inbox as soon as it is released:
Thank you for reading! That concludes the third and final article of The Athlete’s Guide to In-Season Training. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. If you found this article useful or helpful and worthy of sharing, please share this article to anyone you think could find value in it.
The Athlete’s Guide to In-Season Training—Article 2—Coming Next Week