A change of seasons can cue some healthy and refreshing changes in workouts. Changes of activities to get our mind and bodies out of the ruts that a summer of training has created.
After a productive season of road cycling, I feel a staleness start to creep into the miles. Perhaps I am a little overly irritated with the really bad drivers that are just part of the landscape these days, or maybe just a little low on motivation to attack a favorite climb, such are some tell-tale signs that my routine is calling for a seasonal changeup.
Winter crosstraining, here I come!
A Seasonal Change By Any Other Name
Cross-training can perform wonders on our training and leads to improvements in overall fitness. The part I especially enjoy is the guilt-free aspect of playing instead of training. Movement is movement, regardless of whether it is sport-specific or not. Making the transition to alternate activities that align with seasonal shifts makes the changes feel a little more of a natural rhythm.
Hopefully we have learned, or are currently learning, to listen to our bodies. Deciphering the information is always the challenge. (No amount of tech will ever show me when I can reach deep for a last effort or not.) Following Nature’s lead to change activity with the seasons allows me to connect with my physical nature. Maybe it does for you too.
Fitness?
A few years ago, this aging body of mine started giving me unwanted indicators that previous levels of athletic performance were no longer available in my size. Dreams of a lot of competition were not going to happen anymore.
What was left?
Ever the optimist, I figured that there was something that could be done. Doomed to struggle with aging was not an option. An active lifestyle could still be salvaged.
I had cross-trained for off-season fitness in my younger years, now the proportions of those physical activities needed to shift a bit. My mental attitude needed to shift considerably more.
Arriving at a compromise with my competitive nature took some work. Now I look forward to the yearly changeup in routine. It comes down to keeping fitness fun still.
Peer Differences
Getting older is not always what I thought it would be. Staying with exercise and a generally healthy lifestyle, it turns out, is not so common. I get it. Life gets busy and activities of youth give way to new priorities of adulthood. The irony of decreased physical activity combined with Nature slowing down our metabolism, is not lost on us either.
I look in the mirror and wish some things were different. Then I look around at guys my age and discover that I am doing okay. I am still competitive with myself (I do love those PR’s on Strava!). I am not on a shopping list of daily medications, though I do more supplementation these days.
Best of all, my medical doctor doesn’t quite know what to do with me. With a few lifestyle tweaks I can positively change some lab values for which he is trying hard to sell me prescription meds.
I am a disappointment for many, and proud of it.
Change of Seasons
In Dr. Kubler-Ross’ treatise on death, the final stage in our processing of life changing events is acceptance. Whatever the reasons, I embrace the cyclical shift (no pun intended) in activities that give me a sense of fulfillment.
An acceptance of what is instead of what I think should be.
With the winter I can start running again, with all of its discomfort. Leg days will also return with the wondrous DOMS 48 hours later. In the meantime, I get a respite from bad drivers and flat tires for a few months. My workout world shifts towards change with the new season, and I enjoy the lifestyle of balance.
My true nature turns out to be change.
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”― Terry Pratchett
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