Off-season nutrition is where your next triathlon season gets won or lost, so which of these 3 mistakes are you making right now?

After two decades of working with triathletes, I can tell you that the athletes who struggle most in race season usually got it wrong months earlier, in the off-season. I walk you through the 3 off-season nutrition mistakes I see over and over, why they happen and what they cost you in your next build, plus the athlete who put on at least 10kg every off-season and the former MMA fighter who lost 8kg without losing muscle or bike power. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, your off-season starts now. If you’re racing through an Australian summer, bank this one for when your season wraps up.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Why a 2-week break after your A race turns into a 3-month blowout, and what it costs you in your next build
• How the blowout and the crash diet feed each other, and why elite athletes don’t get stuck in that cycle
• Why the hours you spend in an energy deficit during the day matter as much as your daily total
• What dieting hard in the off-season does to the muscle you’re trying to build in the gym
• Why doing nothing feels like the safe option, and why it carries last season’s problems straight into the next one
• How long a new habit takes to stick, and why that makes the off-season the time to start

TIMESTAMPS 

00:59 Mistake 1: The 10kg off-season blowout

03:52 The athlete who gained 10kg every off-season

06:36 Mistake 2: Dieting too hard in the off-season

09:13 How Dan lost 8kg without losing power

11:16 Why a hard diet blunts muscle gains

12:53 Mistake 3: Doing nothing in the off-season

14:30 Why your nutrition needs periodising too

16:49 How long a new habit takes to stick

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674
• Murphy, C., & Koehler, K. (2022). Energy deficiency impairs resistance training gains in lean mass but not strength: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 32(1), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14075
• Torstveit, M. K., Fahrenholtz, I., Stenqvist, T. B., Sylta, Ø., & Melin, A. (2018). Within-day energy deficiency and metabolic perturbation in male endurance athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 28(4), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0337

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Ep 98: How to Find Balance Post-Race So You Don’t Blow Out and Gain 10kg / 20lb
• Ep 255: Over 45 and Losing Power? Your Protein Isn’t Working Like It Used To

FIND THE MISTAKES HIDING IN YOUR RACE DAY NUTRITION

If you heard yourself in even one of these off-season mistakes, I bet there are a few more hiding in your race day nutrition too. My free 5-part audio series walks you through the biggest nutrition mistakes costing you time on race day. It’s short, it’s free and it fits into your next wind trainer session. Grab the free audio series

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.