Hello ,,
The holiday season brings unique challenges to maintaining training consistency. But contrary to popular belief, this period doesn't have to derail your progress. Let's explore how to keep moving forward when routines get disrupted.
3 Insights About Maintaining Progress Through Disruption
The minimum effective dose is more powerful than you think. Maintaining as little as 30-40% of your normal training volume can preserve most of your fitness. It's not about maintaining peak performance during disrupted periods - it's about keeping the foundation stable.
Consistency trumps intensity when routines are disrupted. A 20-minute session you'll actually do is infinitely more valuable than a planned 2-hour session that never happens. Short, focused efforts maintain both the physical and psychological aspects of your training habit.
Disruption provides unique adaptation opportunities. Different training environments, unusual schedules, and varied resources can actually enhance your athletic resilience. These challenges build mental toughness and force you to develop new skills that you can reflect and draw on when returning to normal routines.
2 Questions For You
What's the smallest training commitment you could make that you're 100% confident you can keep during this holiday period?
How could you turn one of your holiday "disruptions" into a training opportunity?
1 Real-World Example
During my competitive running days, I developed what I call the "5 x 5s and a 10" approach - five shorter sessions and one longer session per week. The beauty of this framework is its adaptability - it works for both runners and cyclists, simply adjusting the durations to match your sport and current fitness.
What's fascinating is that when athletes reduce their volume from
higher-volume training (often 10-12 sessions per week) to this basic framework, they often see performance improvements rather than declines.
I've successfully used this with many athletes during disrupted periods, and it consistently helps maintain or even build fitness.
This provides compelling evidence that a reduction in training volume can actually enhance performance, setting things up perfectly for a strong start to 2025.
So have a great holiday season and don't stress if you miss the odd session - you might even get faster as a result!!
