Hannah Otto joined the podcast again to help us figure out why an athlete has plateaued, covering how athletes unknowingly under-recover and how it hurts your FTP gains and performance, training through high demand lifestyles and hormonally variable time periods like perimenopause, and some fun gift ideas for the holidays!
// TOPICS COVERED
(0:00:01) Intro – Hannah Otto on the “Year-Long Offseason” Mistake
(0:01:29) Offseason Mindset – Mental Reset, Reconnecting, and Avoiding Burnout
(0:04:02) The Biggest Offseason Trap: Trying to “Maintain” Fitness
(0:07:39) Athlete Calendar Review – Big Gains, But No True Breaks for Over a Year
(0:10:00) Why Recovery Weeks Fail – Weekend Overreaches That Ruin the Next Block
(0:14:30) Reframing Rest – “Create Space” So Training Can Actually Adapt
(0:26:31) Bucket List Events – Picking Races for Joy, Community, and Motivation
(0:32:25) Perimenopause Training – Strength, Fueling, Flexibility, and More Recovery
Hannah just shut down my off season running . A lot of good points to take away on this one. What a good Podcast.
Cyclocross National Series is around the corner, there maybe time to get a CX pro will be on the podcast soon, I hope.
If off season or off weeks (totally off the bike) are really this crucial, can TR incorporate them into the platform? Can TR identify when these periods are needed for an athlete, and/or, incorporate into plans? I could use some guidance on when, and how long, these periods should be for my typical annual schedule. Seems like something TR can help with rather than just tell me that it’s something I should be figuring out on my own.
+1. If AI is ever going to be a “plug-and-play” system then this would be a great addition when making a plan!
But to answer your question of when and how long… After your last race of the season take a break. 1-2 weeks then start over and rebuild.
For example, think of it like a distance runner in high school. After the track season (end of spring) they take a break. Usually about 1-2 weeks off but could be longer. (The general rule is “when you feel motivated to run” but not sooner than one week). Once they start running again we gradually build up volume through the summer with some tempo and fartlek and hills and some strides mixed in as the summer progresses. Once the season starts is is time it to introduce some VO2 and threshold work. After the last race it is time for another break and start the process all over again.
That is a more traditional periodization approach… For older athletes without a structured season I think we tend to move into….to use a term from Hannah… a state of “perma-fit” where we are fit year round but never really have a peak. Even if you don’t have an “A race” we can still benefit from a short break and rebuild. Basically… take a vacation and leave the bike at home!
That said, I also think TR promotes this in the way training and recovery is structured. With every fourth week being such a dramatic reduction in training (no intensity for 7-9 days depending on the layout of your schedule and a massive reduction in volume) you are essentially (almost) taking a “season break” at the end of the three week block. Not saying recovery weeks aren’t necessary… THEY ARE… I just think what they look like is a bit different. For me… (and I realize everyone is different) in a 8 week cycle, I would set up a high volume athlete to see a 20-25% reduction of volume, interval reps, intensity etc. in week 4 (i.e. a lower PL maintenance workout and maybe only 1 that week) and Week 8 would be a true rest week that we see now.
This is a good description of me. I do 4 to 6 events a year, between April and October, and I like to stay training basically year round.
I think what I would like is for TR to look at my last 6 or 12 months and recommend a time off period when I need it. Kinda like a yellow or red day, but on a larger scale.
Did I miss the announcement? He said it should be out by the time we listen…. I guess development hit a snag at the 11th hour. Still excited to finally see what’s been teased for what feels like months.
Ya I’m guessing something caught a snag and we will just have to wait a bit longer. Let it launch on a weekday so we are not hammering their support team to look at every instance of a bug.
I needed this episode more than realized as I’m at the tail end of a recovery week. The mental game resonated most: my desire to cheat the recovery and go for a run is truly rooted in insecurity + daily reminders watching fitness charts drop that - for today - I’m not increasing fitness. But the push to remind myself of the long term benefits of getting a strong series of rides in two weeks is exactly what I need right now to enjoy sitting on the couch.
I don’t know if TR is doing this on purpose, but after my second 10-day crit series in as many months next year, I’ve got a week with no workouts scheduled. The week after that is a recovery week (and then my plan ends).
I’m new to structured training this year and have been wondering if I missed a chance to take a long recovery block. However, I didn’t race a ton, it’s mostly been training. It’s probably better for me to figure out how to make normal training sustainable with the one recovery week per month that TR normally schedules. That’ll get me smoothly to the start of next race season. At that point, I lose control of when I bike and how hard, and the degree to which this stresses me out is probably what will dictate how much recovery time I’ll need.
(But, yes, it’d be great if TR would explicitly add and label extra recovery time in the schedule if it’s clear that stress is going outside normal training bounds.)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! for talking about menopause techniques and using Trainer road through that period. I know middle aged women are a minority customer but there is a reason for that as training is so so difficult when you wake up every morning in a different body. There is a whole enormous market out there of women who still want to nail their goals after 40 so More more please !
I am another post 40 lady who is grateful to see perimenopause covered. Both Jonathon and the ever-fantastic Hannah did a great job of covering a topic of which neither have any first hand experience. Perimenopause has destroyed my ability and confidence to train well, and race well, although I keep striving to get over myself, it is just not that easy. There are so many important things we are told to do - strength work, plyometrics, intensity training, stretching, eating well, sleeping well….all whilst managing a life at an age where careers are intense, parents are aging, partners are aging, dependents are still depending, and hormonal fluctuations mean all you want to do is lie down in a dark room and watch Netflix.
It would be amazing if, at some point in the future,you could get on a guest with experience perimenopause/menopause….there are enough old professional and ex professional women out there still racing, coaching, and training hard to find one who will sit down with you, I am sure. It’s not just women who are affected by perimenopause/menopause. Every man has women in his life….partners, mothers, their boss, their friends, their daughters. It helps when they understand the magnitude of how crazy it is to wake up in a morning and no longer know who you are, or what your body is going to do for the day.
I agree with the comment above, the Hit Play not Pause podcast and group has been a revelation in terms of support. I don’t always agree with everything, however their guests are brilliant and the group very supportive.
. A lot of good points to take away on this one. What a good Podcast.
