Winter brings with it all sorts of reasons to put training on the back burner. Between bad weather, less daylight and the off season, excuses are a whole lot easier than abandoning the couch and hitting the road.
All professional athletes know that the hard work is done in the off season. Golfers do all of their drills and gym work in their downtime so that when the season starts they’re ready to go, better than last year.
Cyclists spend the winter and lousy weather days on the turbo trainer and focusing on strength and conditioning so that instead of waiting for the good weather to begin getting in shape for races and sportives, they’re already there, stronger and faster than last year and wasting no time.
It goes hand in hand with that age-old adage handed down from generation to generation, summer bodies are made in winter! You can take your training up a gear or keep it ticking over but the important thing is not to lose the momentum and to make it out the other side fitter, stronger and more ready than when you went in.
Below are the three most common reasons for easing off training during the colder, darker months. The fourth reason is injury. To some of the top athletes, injury can be seen as an opportunity to focus on flexibilty training and core strengthening. Not a dead end, just a detour.