Dear Athletes,
As lockdown restrictions are lifted across the world, returning to outdoor training is something we are all looking forward to commencing. The overriding principle with regard to return to outdoor training is that your training activities do not compromise the health of yourself, other individuals and your community. In other words, you cannot simply take up where you left off prior to lockdown and train outside as you used to. With a considered return to outdoor training, as an athlete, your planning should consider the following –
- Your ‘How’ - what you need to consider with regard to the strict requirements of your country’s governing health authority. This may also include
- Your ‘When’ - the timing of your return to outdoor training ‘When’ as many countries have strict guidelines on where training outdoors can occur.
- Your ‘What’ – what your training plan will look like. You need to consider your personal detraining effect of lockdown and adaptation required to returning outdoors
- Your ‘Why’ – this is more to care for your mental health. Lockdown is very restrictive.
Let’s look at these considerations in more detail -
HOW will you return to outdoor training?
Without an eradication of the Covid-19 virus in sight, countries around the world are seeking a pathway back to ‘normality’ as lockdown restrictions are gradually lifted.
An example of a guideline for sports to return is the ‘Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Framework to reboot Sport in a COVID-19 environment’. This framework provides a return to outside training as a 3 stage process –
- Level A – outdoor exercise may be done solo or with one other training partner, no equipment may be shared and social distancing rules must be adhered to.
- Level B – maintains a ‘get in, train and get out’ where a maximum of 10 are permitted to train in a group and any shared equipment use is minimised while all equipment is cleaned appropriately. Deliberate contact is not permitted.
- Level C – a return to full training, but maintaining social distancing, hygiene and minimal shared equipment use is still enforced.
The framework recommends an athlete should incorporate an ‘incubation’ period of 4 weeks before proceeding to the next level, and transition rates in the community diminish. Many countries are developing frameworks such as the AIS, and it is important you discuss the relevant return to exercise framework restrictions relevant to your community with your coach.
A link to the AIS document can be found here.
WHEN will you return to outdoor training?
Any decision regarding when you return to outdoor exercise must be made in close consultation with your relevant Public Health Authorities. Transmission rates of the Covid-19 virus will dictate the decisions made by such authorities, and as such your diligence in remaining in line with your countries isolation laws must remain paramount. Again, the timing of the resumption of your outdoor activities should be made with consultation of your coach as well as relevant Public Health Authorities.
An example of some very specific country guidelines can be found in Spain. Currently, outdoor training can only be done between the strict times of 6-10am and 8-10pm. Athletes and coaches must obviously consider these times.
WHAT should your return to outdoor training look like?
When planning your return to outdoor training activities, you must carefully consider how the lockdown restrictions affected your ability to train ‘normally’. This will vary from athlete to athlete particularly with regard to the various lockdown restrictions that have been in place. Some athletes were always able to maintain some outdoor activity while some were unable to do any outdoor exercise. As a result of your own ability to maintain training load, your return to training will need to be adjusted accordingly. Most athletes during this time if confined to lockdown restrictions will have some level of detraining effect. This is where a markedly reduced training load leads to partial or complete reduction in your training effect, thereby reducing your pre lockdown specific triathlon fitness.
Although throughout your career, you will encounter periods of detraining, through planned end of race season breaks and unplanned illnesses, injuries, travel requirements, recovery periods…etc, the loss of dedicated training time in lockdown most likely exceeds these ‘normal’ breaks from consistent training.
Detraining therefore is one of the biggest negative consequences of the forced quarantine for a high performance athlete. The detraining of this type will see a fall in an athlete’s Vo2Max, flexibility, endurance capability and will require a gradual and moderate approach when returning to outdoor training loads.
For example, if run training has been restricted to an indoor treadmill, run training outdoors calls on slightly different muscles. So while the same discipline is being trained, to minimise the risk of injury an athlete should return to ‘normal’ run training loads in a similar fashion as they would when returning from an injury. This remains true for all 3 disciplines in Triathlon.
Careful consideration must be made on how you have been able to train during the lockdown period and how this can gradually be moved across to outdoor training.
WHY are we training?
With races cancelled, and the race season start largely undefined, ‘why’ you may be training may increasingly be a question you are asking yourself and your coach. With a time of unprecedented uncertainty and instability, we all question the reasons why we are doing things – some question this more than others.
When considering the ‘why’ of training now, it remains important to try to alter your questioning mindset to develop an understanding that quarantine and lockdown restrictions presents a very rare opportunity for self-development. It is extremely rare that as an elite athlete you are able to dedicate your time towards your training, developing your injury prevention techniques, expand your knowledge of the sport of triathlon and focus on improving your weaknesses, without the requirement of a race season. Make the most of this time to improve yourself as an athlete in all areas. Quite often, athletes return from injury periods in better form than when they developed an injury, because time was spent focussing on bettering themselves. Now is your time to do this
Some final individualised thoughts on returning to outdoor training
Everyone will be different on how they respond to coming out of lockdown. Some have enjoyed the process of having personal reflective time, others have found it a traumatic experience. Equally we will all respond to coming out of lockdown differently. For some it will be a great release and they will be raring to get back to ‘normal life’, others may find it hard to re-adjust to normal life and contact with others, or may have anxieties and fears about being around other people.
Whatever your feelings and approach, it's ok to feel like this, and the first question may be to understand how you feel about the situation, speak with others like your family or your coach and try and get a sense of your own feelings. Clearly we all need to follow the guidance and rules in our local environment, but within those local restrictions work out what you are personally happy with and develop from there. At two extremes, the first outdoor session could be a 3 hour bike ride, taking in your favourite local scenery and wildlife, or maybe a 10 minute jog around the local area, not straying too far from home. Very much like the physical body, the mind needs to be eased back into appropriate levels of activity. In this situation this can mean being outdoors, or around other people. This ‘mind’ aspect is often dismissed. In some respects you should treat your mind like your body, has it been ‘injured’ by the lockdown, does it need time to heal, or has it just been in hibernation and you just need to ease back like you would at the start of a new training phase after a normal rest period?
I hope you all enjoy the return to outdoor training as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Stay well,
Emma
