Triathlon is a typically summer sport with a season that runs from April to October in the northern hemisphere. During the winter off-season, athletes need to maintain a minimum level of training to prepare for the following season, while also dealing with winter viruses: flu, gastroenteritis, COVID… Here’s how to resume regular training while “boosting” your immune system to avoid getting sick.
Article published in Trimax Magazine n°224 – February 2023
Written by Jean-Baptiste Wiroth
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The off-season is an essential phase for regenerating one’s body both physiologically and psychologically. This annual recovery phase is generally characterized by a reduction in training load, plenty of sleep, and the relative continuity of good nutritional habits.
Training During the Off-Season
The off-season is the ideal time to work on weaknesses! If you are a poor swimmer, swim more regularly and take swimming lessons. If cycling is not your favorite discipline, try indoor cycling, gravel, or track riding to make some progress. Finally, if running is your Achilles’ heel, don’t hesitate to run a bit more and/or do muscle strengthening.
On this last point, it is undeniable that many athletes lack muscle strength. Therefore, simply doing core stability or “heavier” strength training for a few weeks can lead to rapid improvement.
Nutrition During the Off-Season
Some athletes manage to maintain a good dietary balance during the winter. For others, it proves more challenging, often resulting in inevitable weight gain… So, should you “let go” or, on the contrary, be careful with your diet?
It’s clear that avoiding strict nutritional constraints while allowing oneself a few festive and tasty treats helps to decompress mentally. This psychological break allows for a true separation between the two seasons by adopting a different, slightly less monastic lifestyle. For some athletes, this phase is essential.
Gaining a bit of weight also helps recharge the body and build up some reserves for winter. Studies on human and animal populations living in harsh, icy environments show that subcutaneous fat reserves offer excellent protection against the cold. Indeed, subcutaneous adipose tissue helps limit heat loss and serves as a potential energy reserve.
Triathletes who enjoy long-duration winter activities (such as ski mountaineering or snowshoeing) should therefore approach winter without being excessively lean. Conversely, those who compete (in snow triathlons, cross-country skiing, etc.) should be careful not to carry excess body fat to the summits, as this could hinder their performance capacity.
Nevertheless, abruptly shifting from a generally balanced diet to a “festive” diet is a major disruption for the body. The repercussions of these dietary changes can include a weakening of the immune system, a slowing of the regeneration process, and an increase in the time required to regain a good physical condition.
Immunity
As for immunity, it’s important to remember that the digestive membrane is a boundary between the internal environment and the outside world. Under normal conditions, this membrane is “intelligent,” allowing only nutrients to pass through while blocking bacteria, microbes, and other harmful substances. The fatigue from a challenging season end can lead to increased membrane permeability.
This increased intestinal permeability can allow harmful and pathological elements to enter, particularly if the body is weakened by poor dietary habits, an unhealthy gut microbiome, or digestive lesions (ulcers). This partly explains why athletes who undergo high training loads are more vulnerable immunologically and are particularly exposed to infectious diseases (tonsillitis, flu, etc.), which are more frequent in autumn and winter.
It is therefore especially important to take care of one’s digestive system to stay healthy. This involves maintaining a balanced and quality diet, along with simple hygiene measures (washing hands before meals…).
Of course, increased food intake and reduced energy expenditure will inevitably lead to changes in body composition, which may result in weight gain. Indeed, the decrease in muscle mass can mask an increase in body fat. In the end, body weight may remain stable, but the change in body composition does not contribute to improved performance!
Practical Advice
For those who want to take advantage of this off-season break to regenerate without compromising their progress from one year to the next, here are a few practical tips:
- Prefer regular meals to snacking.
- Limit “festive” meals to once a week, while still limiting alcohol and sweets.
- Plan a “cleansing” meal after each indulgence (soup, steamed vegetables, yogurt), and hydrate with mineral water that aids elimination.
- Maintain a balanced diet for the rest of the week, prioritizing seasonal fruits and vegetables.
- Limit weight gain to 6% of your ideal weight (+4.2 kg for a 70 kg triathlete). Heavy eaters should be particularly mindful of reducing their caloric intake during this rest phase, which is marked by a significant decrease in energy expenditure.
