Professional athletes are extremely disciplined individuals, and while in the season they need to stick to their training routine. This also means they need to be careful what they eat or drink, and when they can rest. So, once the season they get to break free from that routine, and actually allow their bodies to fully heal. In other words, they get to recharge their physical and mental batteries. Here we will be focusing on professional cyclists, and talk about what they do to relax during the off-season.
Having Fun
It’s important for them to do pretty much anything they like, and fill them with positive energy. Competitions can be exhausting, and sticking to strict routines can also lead to mental fatigue. Gaming can definitely help, as it can be entertaining, and it can also give you a chance to vent. Online casino games are extremely popular among young adults and middle-aged audiences, and it’s pretty common for athletes to love to gamble. As a result, they used their time off to play at 1$ deposit casino Canada sites, or other gambling platforms. Typically, celebrities or athletes play card games like blackjack or poker, but when playing online, it’s highly likely they also enjoy slots. After all, the online casino often incentivizes their users to focus on different slot games, and developers mostly innovate when creating new slot experiences.
Resting
After the season has concluded cyclists usually take some time to physically rest. This resting period can vary depending on the athlete, but it’s essential to allow bodies to fully recover. This resting period can last between 2 to 4 weeks, and during this time professional cyclists avoid any strenuous physical activities. Of course, this doesn’t mean they just lie around, they are still active, but do things that are more relaxing like:
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Surfing
- Skiing
- Yoga
With age, our recovery capabilities decrease and the time it takes for muscles to recover increases. However, there are certain things we can do to speed it up. These things include a protein-rich diet, massages, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, and of course, staying hydrated.
Managing Injuries
As cyclists constantly compete during the season, it’s perfectly natural for them to sustain minor injuries, and managing them is a top priority in the off-season break. Sometimes all they need to do is rest as we mentioned before, but there are cases when surgery is required. Additionally, they might use the off-season for strength training in order to improve muscle deficits for some of the key muscle groups, including stabilizers. This can help them during the next season by mitigating the severity of any future injuries.
Taking Time to Reflect
The off-season break is used strategically as well since it gives athletes time to reflect and examine their strengths and weaknesses. They create a new strategy for training, and hope they do better in the season to come. This can sometimes cause other problems, and prevent them from having a good rest. It’s not uncommon for them to get stressed out and develop fitness anxiety and fear of weight gain.
This is because they feel that by avoiding training they will regress, or undo the hard work they invested so far. Additionally, our bodies and metabolisms are different, so some of them are more prone to gaining weight, which once again concerns them. However, it’s important to note that any weight gain is easily addressed once they start training, but some pros prefer to stay in shape and do physical activities even during their break.
Planning for Next Season
Finally, a good portion of this break is used for strategic planning, so cyclists do research and discuss their plan with their coach. They are creating a plan for a new training routine and evaluating whether they should participate in all of the upcoming events or not. Sometimes skipping a race is a good thing if it gives you a better chance for the next one, so there are a lot of important decisions they need to make. Basically, they need to adapt their expectations based on their performance and learn from their mistakes.
Conclusion
As you can see pros are constantly learning and adapting, just because they are in the big league it doesn’t mean their lives become less stressful. The drive to develop and continue to progress is always there, and very often it can prevent them from taking time off. However, it’s important for everyone to rest, and to mentally prepare for the new challenges. So having fun, and just not thinking about the upcoming season can also be beneficial. Of course, at their core cyclists love bicycles, so they probably spend a portion of their time looking up new models and testing them.
