wespom9
Level 6 Valued Member
I think for the first time in my life, I've experienced an "in-season" loss of strength, but increase in performance.
For years I've played 21+ league baseball, which was mostly 2x a week through summer. Since 6 years ago or so when I really started taking strength training seriously, I've been able to be relatively consistent. I've taken 3-4 weeks off during long vacations, but never truly "stopped" strength training even during my baseball season. Because of this, I've never really felt a true drop off in strength. Sure I stabilized/platuead during baseball season, but didn't see a decrease in the weight room.
This year I've really gone hard at golf and tennis, to the tune of golf 1-2x a week and tennis 3-4x a week. At the cabin I've also been wakeboarding a bunch of times as well to go along with the other sports (PS, if you ever want to talk about glycolytic capacity - go wakeboarding. My quads were SCREAMING, but I credit Q&D, A+A programming to allow me to handle 4+ minutes straight on the wakeboard. Training does not have to match the test!!). Because of all that activity I've done about 3-4 strength training sessions in the last 3 weeks (A+A snatch w/ 20 kg, throwing in random sets of 5 of TRX pulls or power pushups)
I've definitely noticed a drop in my # of repeats before sloppiness starts to come in and I shut it down. Still getting days of 100+ reps, but with longer rests and I definitely wouldn't use the 24kg. However, in tennis my forehand is flying off the racket. My first serve has improved dramatically, although much of that is attributable to a technique adjustment I'd say. In golf, I'm getting a good 5-10 yards more off my irons than last summer, and I've had a good chunk of drives that I'm carrying 250-265+ yards, and touching 290-300 a few times.
I suppose it's true what they say! Loss of strength in season isn't really a bad thing. This experience has really highlighted the importance of getting that strength level BEFORE the season starts - and not worrying when it goes down in season. I'm interested to see how this feeling plays out the rest of summer, as I imagine I'll be getting 2 strength training days a week at the absolute most.
Anyone else who plays a seasonal sport experience this?
For years I've played 21+ league baseball, which was mostly 2x a week through summer. Since 6 years ago or so when I really started taking strength training seriously, I've been able to be relatively consistent. I've taken 3-4 weeks off during long vacations, but never truly "stopped" strength training even during my baseball season. Because of this, I've never really felt a true drop off in strength. Sure I stabilized/platuead during baseball season, but didn't see a decrease in the weight room.
This year I've really gone hard at golf and tennis, to the tune of golf 1-2x a week and tennis 3-4x a week. At the cabin I've also been wakeboarding a bunch of times as well to go along with the other sports (PS, if you ever want to talk about glycolytic capacity - go wakeboarding. My quads were SCREAMING, but I credit Q&D, A+A programming to allow me to handle 4+ minutes straight on the wakeboard. Training does not have to match the test!!). Because of all that activity I've done about 3-4 strength training sessions in the last 3 weeks (A+A snatch w/ 20 kg, throwing in random sets of 5 of TRX pulls or power pushups)
I've definitely noticed a drop in my # of repeats before sloppiness starts to come in and I shut it down. Still getting days of 100+ reps, but with longer rests and I definitely wouldn't use the 24kg. However, in tennis my forehand is flying off the racket. My first serve has improved dramatically, although much of that is attributable to a technique adjustment I'd say. In golf, I'm getting a good 5-10 yards more off my irons than last summer, and I've had a good chunk of drives that I'm carrying 250-265+ yards, and touching 290-300 a few times.
I suppose it's true what they say! Loss of strength in season isn't really a bad thing. This experience has really highlighted the importance of getting that strength level BEFORE the season starts - and not worrying when it goes down in season. I'm interested to see how this feeling plays out the rest of summer, as I imagine I'll be getting 2 strength training days a week at the absolute most.
Anyone else who plays a seasonal sport experience this?