Advice on finding a spark in racing/training after a period of fatigue
By Sarah Willis, PhD
I think that most of us, if not all of us, have had times when we were not performing the way we imagined and having trouble to get our bodies feeling energetic again. This can be very frustrating and confusing as to why our performance is not coming together after strong periods of training and preparation. It can be incredibly challenging to recognize this situation as well as pinpoint the cause of this feeling. Because of this, your body perceptions and lackluster performance can drag into your season without knowing what is happening. This would be classified as an overreached status in training, but not in the good way (‘functional’) where we spend time on recovery and bounce back. Rather, this kind of overreaching is termed ‘non-functional’, where the balance between training and recovery has been insufficient and performance declines. This can occur from a multitude of circumstances including not only the training stimulus, but also life stresses, travel, illness, etc. It is important to listen to the body and understand that it needs more rest. But how do you recover your body and your season? Below is a tip I have given to athletes that I also find quite effective myself.
Step 1 = Rest
This first step is the best and maybe hardest step; you need to rest. That means take some naps throughout the day along with getting a good night’s rest, taking all things in life at just a bit slower speed, giving yourself time to just rest the body and the mind, keeping a healthy hydration and nutrition plan, while staying connected with your support community. It is hard to do this as we are geared to go, go, go, but it is important to trust in your training throughout the pre-seasons and know deep down that your body is strong and will find the way back to great fitness.
Step 2 = Find your spark
After taking some time to settle down and rest comes the fun part. Take some easy training sessions to get the body in motion and feel your muscles waking up. Take time to warm-up well in your training and pay attention to the little things outside of training, gentle stretching to maintain range of motion, begin again with maintenance strength training/prehab, proper nutrition, adequate sleep, etc. all the good stuff. Once you are back in a regular training rhythm after a good 3+ days, it is time to find your way to fitness by sparking your energy systems and waking up your body.
I would recommend replacing all your intensity sessions with a series of short (15-20 seconds duration), high-intensity sprints (really use your outmost maximal effort). Perform a short series of these sprints (4-6 sprints in a row, repeated 2 to 5 times with 5 minutes recovery between sets) with incomplete recovery (using a 1 to 2 ratio of sprint to recovery, i.e. 15 s ON : 30 s OFF (or) 20 s ON : 40 s OFF) of easy skiing.
These sprint sessions should be quite short in duration, therefore effective and productive (45-60 minutes). The aim here is to wake the body up by ‘freaking it out’. Our body needs a new stimulus, and this can be found with this new style of interval based on the principle of repeated sprint training, which I will introduce and detail in future articles. In summary, take 10-15 minutes to warm up easily, perform 2–5 sets of 4-6 sprints in a row with 5 minutes of recovery between sets, then finish your workout with 10 minutes to cool down easily.
You will be ready for racing again in no time, just give yourself a short break followed by focused small block of maximal intensity sprints and you will find yourself refreshed and ready to shine.
* Fun fact, this tip is supported by Caitlin Gregg which can be evidenced by her bronze medal finish in a historic double podium race for the USA alongside Jessie Diggins (2nd) in the World Championships 10km Skate in Falun, Sweden in 2015.