Physio’s Corner: How to prepare your body for next season

With the season over and the off-season in full swing, now is the time to recover and prepare for the next one.

Your nervous system will be very heightened from the stress of racing. Not to mention the sleep that you will have acquired from racing (or partying…) at Henley Royal Regatta, even more so if you had a drink…

Realistically, the majority of people will feel recovered in a week or two. It is rare that people will take three to four weeks to feel back to normal. However, if that is the case, then there are some important lifestyle factors like making sure you are eating and sleeping enough. If you have any persistent issues then it is best to reach out to a medical professional.

Here are some tips I have acquired from athletes that I work with:

1. Rest!

At least take a week off if you can. I don’t mean a week of being a couch potato, a week of just living life – go for walks, see friends, and enjoy life.

2. Do a different sport and expand your aerobic fitness!

Try CrossFit or running and make it your whole personality if you must! Go cycling or swimming, anything but the erg…

Some examples of what people I have spoken to are doing:

• Train and run a half marathon
• Sign up for a triathlon
• Go on a walking holiday

3. Enjoy the gym and get stronger

Prioritise moving differently and in ways that make your body feel good. Switching it up and challenging yourself to get a different physiological stimulus is good for the mind-body connection that will have a hugely positive impact when you get back in the boat.

Examples of what people are doing:

• 100 pull-ups or 250 bodyweight squats
• Starting CrossFit

4. Work on becoming more flexible and mobile

Undoubtedly, you will have some deficits and there’s no better time in the year than the off-season and summer two addresses.

The reality is that you won’t want to add something to your routine that is drastically different and takes a lot of time at first. Instead, add in 10 minutes of stretching or mobility throughout the day. With my Thames RC athletes, this has been most successful to do while watching TV or split it up into 5×2 mins throughout the day. There are lots of options and ways to do it.

The reality of an off-season is that what you do matters. The first one to four weeks of your off-season is about recovering from the training and overload that you experience throughout the season as well as during race weeks. For example, Henley creates an immense amount of stress on the body, with the back-to-back nature of racing. A lot of this will take some time for the body to destress and the nervous system to regulate again.

The amount of time it will take for your body to feel back to normal is very individual. For me, despite not even racing, it’s taken about a week to feel normal again, but I am still a bit tired and it will take about one month or two to reduce my sleep deficit that I experienced in that week.

After the first few days or weeks of recovering when your body feels back to normal, shift your focus from recovering to preparing for the next season.

With so much time and especially a lot of people being students your summer holidays are your best friend to enjoy life, recover, and dial into your weaknesses and limitations that have affected you in the last season.

For anyone that has read Atomic Habits by James Clear (or if you haven’t, I highly recommend), using the principles of habit stacking will be a game changer for you to create a good routine that will transfer into the season and set you up for success. Habit stacking is the process of combining a new part of your routine or action with an already existing one.

Two strategies that I highly recommend are stretching while the kettle/coffee machine or microwave is on. That is a free couple of minutes of positive actions that will help you in the long run. Another is to stretch for the first 5-10 minutes when you sit down to watch TV, using it as your “buy-in” to relaxation.

Sophie Hudson is a qualified physiotherapist, based in London

For more information or advice, please contact @sophiehudsonphysio on Instagram

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