Winter for some athletes is a welcome time without competition and a chance for much needed rest for both mind and body.

For those who can’t stand still for long, it is also a great time to build some resilience, base strength and fitness.

Cricket, motocross and rugby league are just three of the sports that have a few months to rest and reload during the winter months.

For these athletes, off-season training should look to involve proper periodisation with an emphasis initially on hypertrophy (an increase and growth of muscle cells) and endurance.

Then a focus on strength, before finishing with a power phase.

Off season work

Most of all, this off-season work needs to have structure, the correct amount of intensity, testing, reps and sets.

Importantly, with this all taking place during the supposed ‘rest’ season, it must also be good fun to enable the athlete to stay engaged and for it to be ultimately successful.

These periods of training are times of little sport specific skill work and therefore, represent a great time to focus on muscular and physical gains. Such gains will be beneficial for times during the season when there can be little opportunity to focus on large gains due to the regular playing fixture list.

Fully fit

During the season, work focuses on maintaining what has been achieved during the off season. The hard work now really pays off.

At Optimum Derby, we have a history of working with individuals and athletes when they are both fully fit and when they are injured.

If you need help with your off season physical programming, come and chat with the staff at Optimum.

MD Tom Heeley has experience with professional football, rugby, cricket, Olympic skiers and snowboard as well as motorsport and athletics.

READ MORE: Five reasons why sports massage is for you

READ MORE: Optimum Derby MD Tom Heeley becomes associate lecturer at University of Derby.