Off-Season, Pre-Season, In-Season Training - What's the Difference?

Thanks to Tadhg for the question

This post is inspired by this question I got on Instagram:

‘Preseason S&C - what to think about, how it differs from off-season and how to plan it.’

I think it’s worth describing how I divide up all the different training macrocyles so you can reference one place for all.

First of all, let’s explain periodisation

Periodisation is a method of creating structured change within a program. Rather than expecting linear progression in a whole year, or expecting positive adaptations by repeating the same workouts for 52 weeks straight, periodisation breaks time into chunks of weeks or months. Within those periods you can then chase specific physical goals like speed, hypertrophy, etc.

We can use these labels to break those chunks into a hierarchy as follows (like kg to gram to milligram):

• Macrocyles - a group of microcycles

• Microcycle - a group of mesocycles

• Mesocycles - a group of training sessions

A coach could chop and change this whatever way they wanted. There really are no strict rules.

I will describe below how I (very broadly) consider the Irish/European Ultimate Frisbee calendar using the above model. It is based on those who wish to compete at the highest level club tournament of the year, EUCF.

Macrocyle: January to December

If you’re trying to be the best athlete you can be, there are no true days off. Your lifestyle should reflect your goals and even rest or holiday weeks are deliberate and factored into your overall training.

Mesocycle 1: October to December

Off-Season

This for me is what I would call the off season¹. You have finished EUCF and your club training has stopped. There are no serious competitions.

My priorities for athletes are:

1. Take 2 weeks off at the start to completely unwind and feel no obligation to Ultimate.

2. Plan, plan, plan. What do you need to do to make your body healthier? What do you want to achieve? How are you going to do this?

3. Take another week’s break at Christmas.

Your S&C training can take priority here, meaning you can give the bulk of your time and energy to it. Specific individual throwing and cutting skills fit in well here too.

The main goals in my training plans revolve around hypertrophy (muscle growth), all the basics of good, full range movements and aerobic capacity (with a healthy bias towards the anaerobic system too).

Mesocycle 2: January to March

Pre-season

This is a period where some trainings and trials can start taking place and therefore your energy will be split between S&C and Ultimate. S&C training goals in my plans are primarily based around speed development, unilateral training and exposure to sprinting. I decrease the number of S&C days from 5 to 3.

How to plan the pre-season?

You plan it with a calendar first and foremost. What days are red, green and blue days? How many of each does your body need in a week? This is all explained in my previous post on managing training volume increases.

Secondly, decide on what order your goals are in terms of need. Are you nursing an injury? This should really be eliminated in the preseason in order to have a good in-season. Your value is measured first by your availability. Your enjoyment will also be massively impacted by how much you can actually play and not just do physio all the time.

Are you a second team kind of player who needs to make a really good impression this year to make firsts? Then you have to spend most of your time on being a better player on the field so your game skills count for more. If it’s your athleticism that’s letting you down, are you getting coached to be more athletic or just hoping doing squats and things you see on Instagram will work? What do you need in order to be successful?

Focus on the 80% and be careful not to get sidetracked by the 20% - like spending lots of time learning to throw big hucks when you can’t complete an around dump pass, a throw you far more often need.

Mesocycle 3: April to September

In-Season

This time of year is all about playing the sport you love. S&C should really be a supplement to your training, rather than the main focus for improving yourself as an athlete.

I think of S&C as being more like medicine or vitamin supplements during the in-season. It will provide the least amount of transfer to performance compared to doing things with a disc in hand and running around with other people on a field. However, it provides opportunity to the body to return it to a more ‘centred’ state. It can be used to enhance recovery, maintain strength, mobility and stability and manage old injuries.

For people really new to lifting (<1y) they certainly might set some PRs but for experienced lifters there is not much point pushing yourself here; you will actually exhaust yourself more than a beginner lifter because you can lift heavier. I’m not against the odd really tough session at a quiet point in the season but that sort of neuromuscular fatigue lasts several days so you’d just want to factor that in.

1. Except for college kids, who have it rough if they’re the best in college and playing elite Ultimate.