Purposeful De-conditioning

I am in the process of getting out of shape.  Not Jabba the Hut out of shape but a planned relaxation of the intensity and volume of my training.  I’m doing it on purpose.  It feels great.

What am I doing to lose fitness?

I just came off a hard road marathon.  I had some aches and pains.  I dropped my road running volume down to almost zero for 2-3 weeks.  No intense workouts.  No long workouts.  Nothing stressful.

I’m still working out 6 days a week.  Instead of running I’m doing strength work in the gym, some light cycling and yoga.  On a scale of 1-10 I’m at about a 2 in terms of intensity.

I’m also not worrying about any upcoming races.  I’ve got nothing urgent to prepare for on the calendar.  Nothing looking over my shoulder and nagging at me. No mental stress.

I’m not on any kind of strict diet.  I’m still trying to eat as healthy as I can but I’m not stressing out about it or feeling guilty about it.

I am purposefully losing a little fitness.

Why would you want to lose fitness?

I try to take the long view of my endurance sports.  I’ve been at it so long that it could easily become an obsession or a chore.  I know very good athletes who just keep training at a high level year over year and are always injured and depressed.  I don’t wish that on anyone.

Running is not my job.  I don’t get paid for it.  Running does not define who I am it is only part of who I am and I’d like it to remain part of my life for years to come but only if it is a physically and mentally healthy part.

Part of this long view is to understand the seasons of your life and the seasons of your training.  You need to proactively create seasons of recovery so that you can enjoy this gift over the long term.

You need to give your body a break every now and then.  You need to give your body and your mind time to recover.  Not just a couple days.  Some deep recovery to get rid of all those deep seated aches and pains.

Physically, even if you may not know it, you have stress and potential injures lurking after a season of training and racing.  If you don’t give your body a chance to heal, rebuild and adapt these will manifest.

There may be warning signs.  Maybe towards the end of that cycle you really started to hate working out.  Maybe you had a sore knee, or Achilles, or Plantar Fasciitis that nagged at you.

Move into a season of losing a little fitness.  Schedule it.  Make time for it.  Accept it.

Why is it so hard to lose a little fitness?

There is an amazing amount of resistance to the season of losing fitness.  Especially in new runners.  That fitness was so hard fought for it seems a terrible waste to let any of it slip away.  There is almost a sense of shame in not training hard after a season of training.

There can be a social stigma as well. Your running friends are doing all these cool races that you want to do.  You are in the position of saying ‘no’.

You don’t want to be seen or see yourself as not trying hard, not giving all you can give, of not striving.  It is not who you are.

Then there is the sense of squandering your conditioning.  Why not take this hard fought fitness and parlay it into another big win at another race?  We tend to think linearly.  Our human systems are not linear, they are more like waves.  They have natural peaks and valleys.  It is usually foolish to try to extend a wave peak indefinitely.  Your natural rhythms will catch up with you eventually.

You can either proactively lose a little fitness and use it as a positive season of gaining energy or wait for the inevitable setback that will force you to anyhow.

What do you gain from a season of losing fitness?

I’m talking about weeks, maybe months here.  You’ll still be working out.  You won’t lose that much fitness and you’ll be in an excellent position to build it back.

First, the mental break is incredibly empowering.  To not have to worry about a long run or hitting a hard tempo session is a gift.  You’ll be able to lift your head up from the grind and find perspective in your sports.

That thing that was starting to be a chore towards the end of that last hard cycle is the same thing you will start to miss after a week or two.  You’ll start to crave the sweet feeling of pushing and testing yourself on the open road.  It will refresh and recharge your perspective.

Given a little vacation you might just fall back in love.

When you’re not so focused on your next workout or your next race it will give you a chance to tend to the other gardens in your life.  Is there some yard work you missed?  Is there someone you’ve been neglecting?

Then what happens?

At the end of the season of losing fitness you start to feel…well…out of shape!  Then you can find the old familiar struggle and embrace the build like an old friend.

Coming out of the season of losing fitness you will be engaged and enthusiastic. You won’t have to talk yourself into it.  You’ll be drawn back into that wonderful thrum of training.

Take my advice and consider a short season of losing fitness.  Consider it an investment in your long term plan.