One of the basic principles of The Riding Bumps book and training programs is that every athlete needs to periodize their training year. If you are going to grow as an athlete, and  continue to improve your paddling year after year,  you are going to have to change up your training from time to time.  For most North American paddlers – that time is now. The Adaptation Phase of your training year is officially here.

What most paddlers do at the end of the SUP race year

Most paddlers watch Connor Baxter and Kai Lenny race throughout the year and think to themselves “dude, Connor paddles year round and races all the time, I am gonna do that.” They then proceed to sign themselves up for a late season race and set about hammering on themselves for a few more months in an attempt to extend their fitness through the winter. Other paddlers go out and buy an indoor paddle training machine so they can continue to paddle when the weather sours (1).

The problem with this scenario is that you are not Connor Baxter. If you were, you would be living in Hawaii and spending your time on  the pro circuit. One of the reasons that the pros are the pros is that they can recover from workouts better than you or I can . They can handle year round training and racing. In 20 years of coaching endurance athletes we have learned that most athletes  cannot train throughout the year without a break from time to time. Most paddlers should also be reminded that Connor is younger than your cat (and maybe even your dog) and you cannot keep up with those kids any more. Stop trying. Get smart. Periodize your training. All we are asking for is 6-8 weeks.

What you should do (at least if you want to be a stronger paddler in 2014)

Step 1 is to take a break from structured training.Lose your focus. Stop forcing your 12 mile paddle every Saturday. Stop worrying about Catalina or Molokai next year. Just stop. If you are like many endurance athletes you are going to find that stopping is hard. The one thing they don’t tell you when you purchased your paddle is that paddling is addictive. You like getting on the water. You like the quiet morning paddles. You like being fit. You like the way you look in the mirror.  You like your weekend schedule. We get all of that. Nonetheless, if your goal is to race faster next year, it is time to shut it down (at least for 6-8 weeks).

As a competitive paddler you have a decision to make.

• Option 1: stop what you are doing. Let yourself recover from this season for 6-8 weeks.
• Option 2: Keep doing what you are doing. Keep up with your long weekend paddles. Keep at the intervals.

If you choose option 1, you are on the path for success. Without getting too existential, flaky, and all Buddah on you, after a few weeks you will regain that hunger you had for paddling so you can attack your training come January.  If you choose Option 2, the bottom will fall out eventually. Maybe not this year. Maybe not even next year. But the bottom will fall out eventually. It always does.

Periodization and yearly recovery does not mean that you should sit around getting fat

The only thing you won’t do during your Adaptation Phase of training is sit around getting fat. You don’t even have to get out of the water. The goal with this phase of training is to 1) change things up and do something else (e.g cross train)  2) get out of the routine of having to do anything particular with your training (e.g. get unfocused) and 3) dial things back.  Trust us – the bottom will not fall out.

Some things to consider during this years Adaptation phase

The only thing we recommend you do for the next 6-8 weeks is to not do what you normally do. Although we would like to see more paddlers get out of the water and do something completely different to really change things up we that wont happen and we get it. Nonetheless, here are some ideas to consider for your Adaptation phase this training this year.

• Limit your water time to 1-2x per week. It is certainly OK to paddle (SUP or prone) to keep things moving just keep it mellow. No intervals or hard workouts on your SUP or prone board.
• If  you are a prone paddler – do standup. Stop it with the sweeper nonsense. You know who you are.
• If you are a SUP athlete – prone paddle or restrict yourself to SUP surfing
• Swim
• Surf with abandon
• Go Cinzori Hell Challenge/ Kalama style and add in a “boot camp” type of SUP or prone paddle workout
  • Do a series of “in and outs” through the surf. While on land combine running or sprinting down the beach and/or stair climbing with calisthenics. For example
  • Go out through the surf paddle 1/8 mile and then come back through the surf
  • Run or sprint 1/8 mile or climb a series of beach access stairs
  • Perform a set of push  ups, sit ups, pull ups, mountain climbers, burpees, planks, lunges,  bear crawl or whatever you like.
  • Go out through the surf
  • Repeat until you puke, get tired, or need to go home or work
  • Do it with a group on the beach. Don’t worry you wont look  too much like Gilad as you jump, lunge, twist, and skip down the beach.
• Go for a hike
• Go for a bike ride or get on the bike trainer. We highly recommend checking out www.pearsports.com if you are looking for bike trainer workouts. All  you need is an Iphone. Get the app. Download a bike trainer workout. Hit play. You are going to dig it.
• Get in the gym and focus on your functional strength training

Your only goal with all of this is to maintain some fitness and not let yourself get too far in a hole. Just do something that is different from what you normally do and do not focus on how much or how often. When in doubt do less rather than more.  Finally, do not hurt yourself. That would be stupid and counterproductive.

If you are the guy looking to lose that last 5 pounds…

Paddle racers always seem to want to  lose that last 5 pounds. It does not matter what they weigh there is always another 5 pounds to go. In most cases,  this is nonsense and we encourage athletes to focus on their training and stop worrying about their weight or how they look in the mirror. Nonetheless, we know there is that little voice in your head nagging you about those last 5 pounds. The time to deal with that voice in your head is during the Adaptation and Base Phases of training.

If that is you, what you might find is that allowing yourself to transition into the Adaptation Phase of training and changing up your routine can be associated with shedding a few pounds.  Although we do not know why this sometimes happens, we suspect that letting the background stress of a full training load (e.g. chronic low grade over training) go by the wayside (less background stress = less cortisol = weight loss). Additionally, getting away from paddling for a while allows you to focus on using larger muscle groups (e.g. your legs while cycling) so you can burn more energy while you are training. Similarly spending time in the gym will help you increase muscle mass and also may induce hormonal changes that can help you regulate your weight.

If you are the guy out there who loaded up on Advil all year because of your shoulder pain

You know who you are. The one with the bone spur the surgeon told you will get worse if you leave it but you cannot stop paddling because you are afraid of missing a workout, getting fat, or having your buddy get faster than  you. You need to go see the surgeon today. The first reason is that they get busy at the end of the year when everyone tries to have their surgeries covered on last years deductible. The second reason is that if you think missing 6-8 weeks to recover from a shoulder scope to deal with those bone spurs is a headache, that is nothing compared to 4-6 months you will need when the bone spur chews through your supraspinatus and your need your rotator cuff reconstructed.  Your call.

1) Don’t get the wrong impression. We are not knocking indoor paddle trainers. They have a place. That place is during the training year when you absolutely cannot miss a workout because of weather, or in the base training segment of your periodized year when you are building a fitness base. We do not, however, condone indoor paddling when you could be doing other things.