Some of us took advantage of the amazing weather, traveled to new locations, and structured summer workouts into the daily routine to continue to grow stronger, leaner, and healthier. But a lot of athletes come back to the gym after Labor Day not quite in the shape they were before Memorial Day. They might have a few more millimeters of body fat on those skinfolds and pounds on the scale. They might be missing some of their former strength and explosiveness.

In either case, now is the time to either get back on track, or step up your training. With only a few weeks until fall is officially here, advancing your fitness now will allow you to reap the benefits of all that the fall has to offer.

Fall is time for football, but it’s also time for gains in your fitness. [Photo credit: Pixabay]

What Fall Brings to Fitness

Routine

With the craziness of summer settled down and school back in session, our daily schedules go back to normal. That means you can carve out the necessary time to get under that barbell. If you commit to going hard for September, October, and November, that gives you 10-12 weeks to get where you want to be before the holidays come around.

Nutrition

Speaking of the holidays (and the impending dietary transgressions), fall is the time to “pre-game.” Building more muscle and improving your fitness now will allow you to go into the holiday season with a body that is able to turn pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, and pounds of turkey into rock-solid, high-performance muscle mass. Step up your exercise intensity, add in strength days, and build an overall foundation. Come holiday season, you will be prepared to train insane and take advantage all those calories.

CrossFit Open Prep

The Open is only 6 months away, which means the time to start getting ready is now. Where were the gaps in your performance this year? The next 10-12 weeks are an opportunity to build a better foundation of strength, improve your Olympic weightlifting technique, or learn new skills like gymnastics and bodyweight movements. Shoring up those holes in your game now will allow you to do much more specific work in the CrossFit Open “preseason,” from December to February.

Seasonal Athletes in the Fall

Fall Sports

If you play soccer, football, or other fall sports, you are either reaping the benefits of the training you put in 6 month ago, or regretting that you didn’t. Take notes on where your performance is suffering during the season now, so that you’ll know what to work on when the season is over.

Winter Sports

If you wrestle, play basketball, or another winter sport, this is your preseason. Focus on increasing your overall athleticism for the next 8-12 weeks, in addition to sport-specific skill work and conditioning so that when your season starts, you will be strong and healthy. The work you do now will determine the kind of season you have this winter.

Spring Sports

Spring sport athletes could be reading this two ways: “Maaann, I have 8 months until my season starts.” Or, “Oh man, I have 8 months until my season starts!” I hope you say it the second way, and are excited to capitalize on your offseason training. The best athletes understand that just playing their sport during the season is not enough. These days, to be a starter, to get scholarships, or even make it to the next level, you’ve got to put in the work year-round. Small town athletes can go pro, and small town heroes can be duds. The difference lies in what those athletes are doing day in and day out.

Do the Work Now, Reap the Rewards Later

Taking advantage of the change in seasons to step up your training will give you a leg up on your competition. The end of summer doesn’t mean the end of progress. A sharp focus on your training for the next 10-12 weeks can reset the backslide of a lazy summer, or be a springboard to success in your next competitive season.

So how are you going to get all of that done?

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The post The Fall Training Guide for Every Athlete appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The struggle lies mainly in understanding how to adapt training methods to improve strengths and weaknesses that surfaced during the season. These steps will help you optimize the off-season so you can improve performance and enter the new season with confidence.

Step 1: Set Detailed Goals

Within this step, there are a few smaller steps:

1. First and foremost, identify where you need to improve. Start by doing a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses.
2. Next, sit down with your coaches for feedback on where they feel you need improvement.
3. Finally, as legendary strength coach Dan John has said, “Keep the goal the goal.”

Commit to focusing on your goals and finding a program that will help you achieve them. Aim to have a program tailored to you and your goals, not generalized for an entire team. When training is focused on improving performance, the rest will fall into place.

Step 2: Train for Number One

While it is only natural to compare yourself to your teammates, it’s crucial that you do not fall into the mental trap of obsessing over someone else’s year. The focus is on what you can do to improve you, not what a buddy did last off-season. So many aspects of baseball are out of your control, but the beauty of the offseason is that improvement is in your hands.

Step 3: Source Your Information

The baseball industry is filled with so-called experts who claim they have the answer to all of your problems. One of the biggest challenges we face as athletes is choosing who we listen to.

Be wary of coaches you haven’t worked with who have extreme ideas on what is right and wrong when it comes to athletic performance. As you grow and develop there will inevitably be tweaks to how you hit and field. But fully changing your natural mechanics should be taken seriously and only done after consulting a coach who is familiar with you as a player.

Step 4: Stay Healthy

I had a coach who would come straight to the training room during the team stretch and scream “YOU CAN’T MAKE THE CLUB IN THE TUB!” To be fair, most of players were either battling injuries or rehabbing from a surgery, but his point was crystal clear. If you’re in the training room nursing an injury, you’re not on the field getting closer to your goals.

How can you stay healthy and injury-free? If I had the answer to that question I would be a wealthy man. There is no guarantee that taking precautionary measures in the off-season will stop you from getting bit by the injury bug, but taking proper care of your body is crucial to success.

A big part of staying healthy and getting the field time you want during the season is listening to your body. If you begin to feel worn down, pull the reins on the workouts and recover for a week. Pacing yourself is critical to season longevity, and your body will thank you in the final stretch of the season.

A Note to Pitchers: Unlike other position players, there is a cap on how much you can do without tempting injury. You cannot throw a thousand times per day. It is always in a pitcher’s best interest to back off rather than push through, a lesson I learned the hard way. This will not hinder your improvement, because the restful period gives you time to work on the less sexy part of your game. A few other guidelines for pitchers:

• Fielding Practice – Don’t give away free outs. Ask someone to hit your groundballs and work on your fielding practice. Learn how to cover first base and do it at game speed. No coach likes giving away free outs.
• Mechanical Work – A sore or tired arm should not stop you from improving your pitching. Working on your mechanics and keeping them just as sharp as if you were playing in a game is key for when you get back on the mound.
• Mental Strength – You’ve heard about the power of visualization before. Take time to reflect on your goals. Visualize yourself in situations and continue to build confidence in your abilities.

Step 5: Mental Game

There are tons of great resources at your fingertips to improve your mental game. It might sound arduous, but pick up one of these and read up.

• Mind Gym, by Gary Mach and David Casstevens
• The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle
• The Power of Being Yourself, by Joe Plumeri
• Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown, by Eric Blehm

Better Rest, Bigger Benefits

It is important to take time in the off-season to relax and recuperate. Following these steps will help you return to the field as stronger player, both mentally and physically. Stay on track with the goals you set for the off-season, and you will go into the season feeling well prepared for the challenges ahead.

More Like This:

• Understanding the Off-Season for Youth Athletes
• The Critical Importance of the Off-season for Your Recovery
• The Pro Secrets to Off-season Training
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post A Baseball Player’s Guide to Off-season Success appeared first on Breaking Muscle.