šš“ Losing fitness to get better?
What a good off-season should really achieve
Reading time: approx. 8 minutes
The season is over. The last race is done, your form may have been really good ā and suddenly you're supposed to train less.
For many ambitious endurance athletes, this feels surprisingly difficult.
Not physically. In the mind. š
Because as soon as the first quiet week is on the calendar, the questions arise:
"How quickly will I lose my VOāmax?"
"Should I really do nothing for two weeks?"
āThe others are already doing intervals on Strava againā¦ am I too late?ā
The good news: You don't have to maintain your best form in October. In fact, you shouldn't even try.
A good off-season isn't about keeping you race-ready twelve months a year. Its purpose is to ensure you become physically and mentally resilient enough to enable the next stage of development .
And that's precisely where a closer look at current research is worthwhile.
1. š§ The off-season is not a training slump.
In endurance sports, we talk a lot about load: training hours, TSS, elevation gain, intervals, long runs, competitions.
What often gets overlooked in this context:
Even a season itself leaves behind fatigue. Not just in the legs, but in the entire system.
A case study published in 2024 followed a triathlete throughout a complete competition season and observed changes in training volume, body composition, and hormonal markers after the final race. The authors explicitly concluded that the transition into the off-season should be structured to support physiological recovery.
This is important because "break" often has a negative connotation in competitive sports, as if one is missing out on something.
I see it differently:
The off-season is training ā only with a different goal.
The goal is not maximum fitness. The goal is recovery, maintenance, and preparation for the next training phase.
2. š What happens if you do absolutely nothing?
Here we need to differentiate between off-season and detraining .
In research, detraining usually means that the previous training stimulus is greatly reduced or completely stopped.
A recent review from 2024 shows that a complete cessation of training can lead to a relatively rapid decline in key endurance adaptations. These include blood and plasma volume, stroke volume, and consequently, VOāmax. With prolonged inactivity, the lactate threshold, glycogen metabolism, and oxidative muscle adaptations can also decrease.
That sounds more dramatic than it actually needs to be.
Firstly, because you don't lose everything at once .
Secondly, a complete training stoppage is different from two or three weeks with significantly less training volume.
And thirdly, your training history will be retained.
A very illustrative example is provided by a case study published in 2024 of a 53-year-old master triathlete: After twelve weeks of complete detraining, the relative VOāmax decreased by around 9% during cycling and by around 11% during running.
After twelve weeks of structured retraining, almost all cardiorespiratory values were back to or close to baseline levels.
However, twelve weeks of a complete training stoppage is not a normal off-season for ambitious athletes.
That's precisely why panicking after seven quiet days is pretty unnecessary. š
Figure 1 shows the crucial distinction:
3. š“ Less training is not automatically worse training
One of the most persistent beliefs in endurance sports is:
More training leads to better fitness.
That's true up to a certain point. After that, it becomes significantly more complicated.
A systematic review and meta-analysis from 2025 examined training volume and performance development in trained cyclists. The intriguing result: once a sufficient training volume was reached, increasing weekly volume showed no clear additional correlation with improvements in VOāmax or time trial performance .
That does not mean: volume doesn't matter.
It is said: Volume is a tool ā not an end in itself.
A study published in 2024 with highly trained cyclists provides even more concrete evidence. The athletes reduced their overall training volume by approximately 30%, but maintained targeted short, intense training stimuli. VOāmax, endurance performance, and oxidative muscle capacity remained unchanged; in one group, even the 4-minute sprint performance improved.
Important: This was a controlled training program and not a classic off-season.
Nevertheless, it shows something that is valuable in practice:
You can significantly reduce training volume without your endurance immediately collapsing ā provided you don't remove every training stimulus at once.
4. ā” Do I still need to do intervals in the off-season?
There is no universal answer here.
If, after ten months of structured training, the mere thought of 5 x 5 minutes puts you in a bad mood, then the physiologically "perfect" maintenance session might be exactly the wrong decision psychologically.
However, if you're really eager to get back to speed after a ten-day break from exercise, a short, intense stimulus can be beneficial.
The basic principle from the literature is that intensity is often more important than very high volume for maintaining performance. Older studies on minimum dose already show that endurance performance can be maintained for weeks with significantly less volume if individual intense stimuli are continued. The more recent cycling studies fit well into this picture.
But: An off-season is not a taper .
A meta-analysis on tapering shows that a volume reduction of approximately 41ā60% while maintaining intensity can improve performance before competitions. However, the goal of a taper is to reach peak performance within a few days.
The goal of the off-season is different:
You don't want to have your best race next week. You want to be able to train properly again in three months.
5. š The mind also needs the end of the season.
This point is at least as important to me as VOāmax.
A qualitative study with professional athletes described the off-season as a three-phase process: decompression, mental distancing from the sport, and preparation for the next season. Athletes reported that consciously getting away from the sporting environment was particularly important for mental and physical regeneration.
That was rugby, not cycling. Therefore, the results shouldn't be directly compared to the real thing.
But the basic idea fits very well with what we know from burnout research: A recent systematic review shows that burnout, controlled motivation and psychological stress can be associated with decreased performance and dropout tendencies.
For ambitious amateur athletes, there's something else to consider:
You've not just had one season.
You've just completed a season plus work, family, appointments, travel, sleep deprivation and everyday life .
Therefore, an off-season can also mean:
No fitness watch on every walk,
There is no obligation to upload every unit.
No FTP test for two weeks,
Spontaneous hiking on Sunday instead of four hours of basic training,
and also say: "I just don't feel like it today."
This isn't a motivation problem. This can be exactly the kind of recovery that will later give you renewed motivation.
6. š± The November World Championship on Strava
As soon as you put your feet up, it happens:
The first colleague posts 140 kilometers. Someone's already back at the sweet spot. Someone's starting "Base Phase 1". And suddenly your three easy days seem like a training mistake.
Welcome to the November World Championship. š
The problem isn't Strava itself. The problem is that you're seeing other people's training data, but not its context.
Perhaps the person had a three-week break. Perhaps their A-race is in March. Perhaps they work 20 hours a week. Perhaps they're simply training too much.
Your sensible transition to the new season doesn't become any less correct just because someone else is already training for 15 hours again.
Therefore, a good question for this phase is not:
"What are the others doing?"
Rather:
"What do I need to feel like doing structured training again in six to eight weeks?"
7. š§© What exactly would a good off-season look like?
I prefer to work with a framework rather than a fixed number of weeks.
Because an athlete after a relaxed racing season needs something different than someone after the Ćtztaler, several marathons, or a long ultratrail season.
Figure 2 shows a practical 3-phase approach:
Phase 1: Relief ā approximately 7 to 14 days
Significantly loosen up training. No rigid structure. Movement is allowed ā but it doesn't have to serve a purpose.
Go for a walk, a leisurely bike ride, a hike, a swim, a light jog. Or simply do nothing at all.
Coach question: Am I becoming calmer ā or am I already seeking performance again?
Phase 2: Receive & play ā approximately 2 to 4 weeks
Now some structure can emerge again, but still without any constraints on form.
For many ambitious athletes, a few easy endurance sessions, some strength training and ā if they feel like it ā a short, intense stimulus are sufficient at this stage.
Cross-training is particularly suitable here: hiking, running, mountain biking, swimming, cross-country skiing.
Not because everything "transmits perfectly", but because variety itself can be a meaningful training stimulus.
Phase 3: Building up ā approximately 2 to 4 weeks
Now the transition back to systematic training begins.
I would first increase the regularity , then the scope , and only then the full specificity .
This feels slower than immediately training for 12 hours again.
But it is usually much more sustainable.
8. šāļøš“ Practical differences by sport
Cycling
After long seasons of road, gravel, or cycling marathons, the training volume can be significantly reduced. Strength training , hiking, and easy runs can now provide valuable variety. A little intensity can remain ā but it doesn't have to immediately involve highly structured cycling intervals.
Trail running
Here, I would pay particular attention to the overall mechanical stress. After significant elevation gain and long descents, muscular and tendon recovery can take longer, even if endurance feels good again. Cycling is an excellent aerobic supplement during this phase, offering less impact.
Triathlon
The off-season is ideal for temporarily shifting your focus. Less overall volume, but more time for swimming technique, strength training, and that discipline that was neglected during the season. But remember: don't train three sports just because you have three sports. š
9. š© How do you know that you shouldn't fully get back into it yet?
A few practical warning signs:
You need to overcome your initial reluctance for almost every unit.
Sleep and mood are still unstable.
Minor ailments don't disappear.
You're irritable even though the training has already been reduced.
You think about watts, pace, or loss of form during every easy training session.
You do have "motivation," but it mainly comes from fear of losing fitness.
The last point is particularly interesting.
Fear of losing shape is not the same as the desire to train.
If you can distinguish between these, training control suddenly becomes much easier.
10. šÆ My Coach Conclusion
Yes: If you do nothing for long enough, you will lose fitness.
But that's only half the story.
You can significantly reduce your training volume in the off-season and still get a lot out of it.
You can deliberately set individual intense stimuli.
You can build strength.
You can use other sports.
And above all, you can reclaim something that isn't so easily represented in Garmin or TrainingPeaks:
Hunger for training.
For me, a good off-season is one where you don't say at the end:
"Great, my VOāmax hasn't dropped a single point."
Rather:
"Now I really feel like working on myself again."
Because you're not training for the best October time on your watch.
You're training for the next season. And ideally for many seasons after that. š±
š And how much of a break do you need exactly?
This cannot be determined from a table.
Training age, season length, competitions, profession, family, injury history, motivation and your next goal should all be considered together.
That's exactly where coaching comes in for me: not planning as much training as possible, but integrating the right stimulus into your real life at the right time.
If you want to prepare for your next season in a structured way ā in cycling, trail running, running or triathlon ā you can find out more about my work at aecoaching.at .
Scientific. Individual. Measurable. And with enough space for the person behind the data.
š Studies & Sources
1. Monitoring training, performance, biomarkers, and psychological state throughout a competitive season: a case study of a triathlete. European Journal of Applied Physiology , 2024.
2. Barbieri et al. Cardiorespiratory and metabolic consequences of detraining in endurance athletes. 2024.
3. Effect of 12 weeks of detraining and retraining on cardiorespiratory fitness in a competitive master athlete: a case study. 2024.
4. The effect of training distribution, duration, and volume on VOāmax and performance in trained cyclists: systematic review, multilevel meta-analysis and meta-regression. 2025.
5. Jeppesen et al. Low-Volume Speed Endurance Training with Reduced Volume Improves Short-Term Exercise Performance in Highly Trained Cyclists. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise , 2024.
6. Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2023.
7. Professional male rugby union players' perceived psychological recovery and physical regeneration during the off-season. 2023.
8. From Slump to Comeback: Psychological Determinants of Performance Decline, Burnout, and Recovery in Competitive Athletes - A Systematic Review. 2026.
Note on the evidence: Direct research on the optimal off-season for ambitious endurance athletes is still surprisingly limited. Some recommendations are therefore based on detraining, tapering, and maintenance studies, as well as research from other sports. This is precisely why individual response, training history, and context are more important than a rigid "four-week rule."
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