Now that the season is changing and the cold weather is coming, it is time to think about other options for working out. For those of you who love to bike, run, swim and do other endurance activities, now is your chance to develop and strengthen your body.

Strength training and endurance training aren’t entirely mutually exclusive, but neither can be trained optimally at the same time. If you are an endurance athlete you might have to have less muscle and if you’re a longtime bodybuilder who wants to try some endurance sports, you’ll have to accept the fact that you’re going to lose some mass as a result of the endurance training. So, the recommendations below might change your body type but you will become stronger, faster, and maybe a little more muscular.

The first rule when starting your offseason program is that cardio is different than strength training. You will see your best strength improvements by doing sets that last no longer than 60 to 90 seconds with matching rests intervals that are 2-3 times as long as the set.

Another rule to focus on is periodization and not to worry about lifting heavier each time you lift weights. You need to have a program that increases and decreases in weight at appropriate intervals, which is the staple of a well-designed training program. This approach will minimize the plateau effect and maximize performance improvements within the limited time frame that’s emphasized.

When starting a program it is important to break it up in different phases. The first phase should focus on the foundation phase. In this phase you want to build a fitness and strength foundation while your body becomes accustomed to weight training exercises. You should not focus on HIT (high intensity training) workouts, because the body needs to become accustomed to the new demands being placed on it. You need to ease into any program and your body will actually make gains fast if you ease into it. Make sure you use light weights because you might have muscles over-dominated from your endurance sport, which in turn most the time leads to weaker supporting muscles. This will allow the less-trained muscles to adjust and prepare for the more strenuous workouts to come.

The next phase is the body phase which, begins to provide stimulus to adapted muscles. In this phase you want to perform your sets to failure. By the end of this phase you should be accustomed to the weights and confident with your strength. In order to continue to build strength, increase weight while decreasing the number of reps performed.

Next you want to focus on the excess load phase. You should be able to lift heavy weights for low reps. You’ll have effectively removed the neuromuscular inhibitions that prevent many individuals from lifting heavy weights. By producing these forces for approximately 30 to 40 seconds, you’ll be developing maximal explosive anaerobic capacity. This of course will help you increase your work capacity at your anaerobic threshold and above it.

When you are done with the excess load phase, you want to go to a high-intensity phase where you continue to build strength benefits by reducing the volume and keeping the weights heavy with low reps. You also should start to gear toward more sports-specific training.

A key component in any program is rest. The more intense a workout is, the more rest you need. At Pat’s Gym we use many different things for rest, such as light cardio, ice baths, massage, rolling out, hot and cold contrast showers, stretching and the right food intake.

Don’t take the offseason to keep the status quo; instead, use it as a chance to see better results for the next season. With increased strength, you will start your sport with more power output at threshold and the ability to compete at the next level.

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