Total Body Transformation Training Blog

Working Out, Training, and Seasonal Adaptation

Spring is trying to fight its way into the calendar on the east coast right now. Temperature swings on a given day can be 30 degrees and some days are cold and damp while others are warm, sunny, and filled with chirping birds. So what does this have to do with training? Usually, a reduction in performance and output. It doesn't matter whether you are a runner, track athlete, weekend hoops players, or power lifter. When the seasons change, people tend to have a string of crappy workouts.

When the seasons change it is typical to see two things in gyms and tracks all over: 1) an increase in colds and flu; 2) a decrease in workout ability. While it makes sense that with warmer weather and temperature changes people get more colds and this effects overall performance, that isn't the entire story. Our bodies get used to the temperature and weather conditions that we see day in and day out when training. When the weather starts to change, the seasonal shifts largely mean a change in temperature and humidity. Short term, our bodies don't respond well to the changes.

This is why on the first spring day it's common that your workout feels like crap and for some reason you aren't able to do quite as much as you did a few days ago. It's called "seasonal adaptation" -- a fancy term that means that like it or not, you've got to give yourself a few days to adjust to the new weather. One step back and then eventually two steps forward.