How to Maintain the Strength You Worked So Hard to Build in the Off-Season During the Season (Just Once a Week)

The Cost of Abandoning Strength Training Mid-Season

The annual cycle for countless amateur athletes goes like this: train seriously through winter to build a foundation, then once spring racing season arrives, stop completely due to being “too busy” or “too tired.” By the end of the season, those hard-earned gains in strength and economy have quietly slipped away, returning to square one.

The root of the problem is a false assumption: “Maintaining strength during the season takes too much time, is exhausting, and will affect racing.” The truth is—the dose required to maintain strength is far lower than the dose required to build it.

Training Volume vs. Intensity: Which Preserves Adaptations?

A key finding in strength science: during the maintenance phase, training volume (sets, frequency) can be drastically reduced, but intensity (load) must be preserved.

Research shows that training at a maintenance dose (once per week, high intensity, low volume) preserves strength adaptations for months with almost no decline. Conversely, if intensity is lowered in favor of light, high-rep work, strength is lost noticeably.

Sample In-Season Maintenance Workout (Once Weekly, 20–25 Minutes)

1. Back squat or rear-foot-elevated split squat 2 sets × 3–4 reps, 82% 1RM
2. Romanian deadlift 2 sets × 4 reps, 80% 1RM
3. Pull-up or row 2 sets × 4–5 reps
4. Pallof press 1 set × 10/side (core stability)

That’s roughly 6–8 working sets total, with minimal recovery cost, yet it preserves an entire winter’s worth of progress.

Timing Is the Key to Success

The biggest concern with in-season maintenance training is impacting race performance, so scheduling must be deliberate:

• Place it on the day farthest from the next race (usually 2–3 days after a race)
• Never do heavy lower-body work within 3 days before a race
• Avoid heavy loads within 48 hours after a race, as muscles are still recovering
• If an A-priority race falls in a given week, skip maintenance training entirely that week (one week off will not cause adaptations to be lost)

Special Adjustments Around Race Periods

Approaching an important event (7–10 days out):

• You may keep 1 very low-volume maintenance session (e.g., 1×3 squat at 85%) to keep the nervous system “primed”
• Completely stop any training that causes delayed onset muscle soreness
• The goal is to “wake up the nervous system without creating fatigue”

“What I find most regrettable is seeing athletes spend all winter building up their squat, only to abandon it entirely in the first week of the season because of ‘no time.’ In reality, 20 minutes and 6 sets per week is all it takes to hold onto those gains—it’s the highest-return 20 minutes in the sporting world.”

The Mental Barrier Is Bigger Than the Physical One

The biggest obstacle to in-season strength maintenance is often not time or fatigue, but psychology: the feeling that “lifting weights during race season is strange.” But the data is clear—those who maintain their strength show noticeably better sprinting, climbing, and fatigue resistance at the end of the season than those who stop entirely.

Treat in-season maintenance training like routine tire repair, not an extra burden. Once a week, 20 minutes, never skipping—this simple habit will carry your winter efforts all the way to the last race of the season.

Related Reading

• How to Maintain Strength In-Season: In-Season Strength Strategies
• Minimal Effective Dose for In-Season Strength Maintenance: How Once a Week Preserves Your Off-Season Strength Assets
• In-Season Strength Maintenance Training for Swimmers
• Strength Training Frequency for Endurance Athletes: A Scientific Guide and Practical Recommendations