Winter Base Building: Endurance + Strength It’s What I’m Actually Doing Right Now

January and February training isn’t glamorous. There are no races on the calendar, no flashy workouts to post, and honestly—some days it’s just cold, dark, wet, and your bed is calling louder than the urge to get your workout in. But year after year, this is the phase that makes the biggest difference in how strong, fast, and durable I feel later on.

Winter base training is where I slow things down on purpose. Not because I’m “taking it easy,” but because I know this work matters.

Why Base Training Matters, Even When It Feels Boring

Base training is about building the engine and the structure that holds it together. For me, that means prioritizing aerobic work, lifting consistently (and lifting heavy), and keeping intensity in check—even when my brain wants to go harder.

When I’ve skipped or rushed this phase in the past, I’ve paid for it later with nagging injuries, burnout, or fitness that peaked too early. When I fully commit to base work, everything else feels easier. My aerobic pace improves, my strength feels more stable for longer, and I can handle higher training loads when it actually counts.

Right now, my weeks are simple: a few steady endurance sessions, 3–4 strength days, and at least one day where I truly back off. Simple doesn’t mean easy—it means intentional.

Strength Training: Less Ego, More Payoff

Winter is my favorite time to lift because I’m not trying to “maintain” strength around hard workouts—I’m actually building.

When I’m really pushing the scale, I stick to a few key lifts: squats, deadlifts, clean & jerks, snatches, thrusters, pull-ups, bench press, and Turkish get-ups. These are my big-ticket items. I always complement them with accessory movements where I’m not lifting nearly as heavy—but I’m still working hard. These movements aren’t fancy, but they’re functional and fierce—and I feel fierce after doing them.

What’s changed over the years is how I load them.

Instead of defaulting to 3 sets of 10 or 2 sets of 15, I now spend most of my time lifting heavy and sub-max. I live in that 6–8 rep range with clean reps and good control, and then about once every four weeks I’ll go for a true max lifting day. I want to finish sessions feeling strong—not wrecked.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that strength training works best when it supports endurance, not when it steals from it.

The biggest mistake I see (and have made myself) is doing too much “strength endurance” lifting and not enough true heavy lifting early in the season. Winter is the time to build a solid strength base that will carry you through the year—and to work on your limiters so you don’t end up on the injured reserve all season.

Aerobic Endurance: Yes, Even Indoors

If you train through winter, you’ve probably had the “Do I really need to do this easy session?” debate with yourself. I still have it.

Most of my endurance work right now lives in Zone 2—easy enough that I can breathe through my nose or hold a conversation. And yes, a lot of it happens indoors. Bikes, treadmills, walking, and stair climbing all count.

Every time I commit to this work, the same thing happens: my pace improves without forcing it, my recovery gets better, and harder sessions later don’t feel nearly as overwhelming. It’s not exciting in the moment—but it shows up later in a big way.

Mobility: The Unsexy Glue That Holds It Together

I’ll be honest—I don’t do long mobility sessions. What does work for me is consistency.

I spend 5–10 minutes every day working on something. Usually, it happens right when I’m about to fall into a social media scroll loop. Instead, I drop the phone and focus on one of my limiters. I do it with intention and actually pay attention to how it feels.

This is not fun—I’m not going to lie. It’s hard work, sometimes just as mentally challenging as a max lifting day. But when I stay consistent, the gains stack up fast.

I prioritize hips, shoulders, upper and lower back, and ankles. When those areas feel good, everything else feels better. On the days I skip this, I notice it immediately in my lifting and running mechanics.

Mobility isn’t extra—it’s what allows me to train consistently without feeling beat up.

What a Real Winter Training Week Looks Like

Right now, my week isn’t perfect—and that’s kind of the point.

I’m hitting 3–4 strength sessions, 3–4 endurance sessions, and sprinkling in technique work during each workout. Some weeks are better than others. The win is consistency, not perfection.

Are You Training Too Hard Right Now?

If you’re constantly tired, irritable, or feel like every session is a grind, that’s a sign—not a badge of honor.

I’ve learned that when winter training starts to feel heavy, the answer usually isn’t more effort—it’s less intensity. Backing off now doesn’t make you weaker; it sets you up to train harder later.

And sometimes, it’s not about backing off—it’s about adding variety. Here in California, winters aren’t always cold or wet, so I’ll mix in mountain or gravel bike rides when the thought of another 3–4 hour road ride makes me want to sleep in instead of jumping out of bed excited.

Slow, enjoyable work builds strong athletes. I remind myself of that often.

Winter Nutrition: Don’t Underfuel the Quiet Season

One thing I have to consciously manage in winter is fueling. When it’s cold and I’m training indoors, hunger cues aren’t always obvious—but recovery still matters.

I focus on consistent meals, plenty of protein to support strength work, and staying hydrated even when I don’t feel thirsty. When I do this well, my energy, recovery, and mood are noticeably better.

Measuring Progress Without Chasing Numbers

During base season, I don’t obsess over the scale or PRs. I pay attention to how training feels.

Is my heart rate lower at the same pace? Am I lifting with better control? Am I recovering faster between sessions? Those are the wins that matter right now.

Winter training isn’t about proving anything. It’s about showing up, stacking small wins, and trusting that the work you’re doing—quietly and consistently—will pay off when it matters most.

And from experience: it always does.

Mobility...How I Get You Started

Mobility work is all about unlocking smooth, powerful movement—helping you learn how to move your joints through their full range of motion so every lift, sprint, and daily task feels better. When I bring clients and athletes on board, we kick things off with quick, simple assessments to spot the tight spots and weak links holding them back. Then we dive into targeted drills, controlled patterns, and breath-driven movement to build real strength and control where it actually matters. It’s not just stretching—it’s targeted training that helps you move your body with confidence and power in every direction. And the best part? With a little consistency, mobility becomes the game-changer that makes all your other training feel stronger, safer, and way more fun.

And now, enjoy these three quick videos where I walk you through mobility work for your shoulder, hips, and spine...

Here is my intro video and an explanation of Shoulder CARS:

Here is my video on Thoracic Spine Mobility:

Last here is my YouTube Short: Mobility for Endurance Athletes.

Each of these movements represents a cornerstone of the Functional Range Conditioning approach, and together they create a foundation of mobility that any athlete can benefit from. By integrating these drills into your training, you’ll build usable range, joint resilience, and long-term performance. If you have questions about applying them to your program, feel free to reach out or drop a comment.

Mobility IS for Endurance Athletes, AND those in Peri & Post Menopause

 

Many of you know that participation in endurance sports requires many hours of training per week both in your sport, in strength sessions, and maybe even visits to the massage therapist, physical therapist or chiropractor. Wouldn’t it be nice to not need to see the physical therapist or massage therapist or chiropractor? But instead to go see one of them because you want to, not need to?

How often do you focus on mobility? Do you know what mobility is, and how it can help you stay out of the PT and massage therapists office? 

Adding a great mobility plan to your endurance sport training is good for…

Injury prevention: Triathletes subject their bodies to significant repetitive, high impact movements, increasing their risk for overuse injuries. Many have several overuse injuries. Mobility workouts address muscle imbalances, reduce stiffness, and enhance joint stability, and nervous system regulation, ultimately lowering their potential for injuries.

Enhanced Performance: Imagine a swim long, powerful stroke that moves through the water effortlessly propelling you further than you are going right now. Or how about a pedal stroke on the bike in your deepest aero position that feels powerful and efficient as it does when you are upright. What about your run gait that is long, balanced and little vertical oscillation? Incorporating mobility exercises into your routine can improve not just your joint range of motion, but your strength in that new range, increasing power output along with better biomechanics and efficiency across all your disciplines.

Smoother Recovery: Endurance sports are demanding, physically, mentally and emotionally. When you have a solid mobility routine, this can aid in faster recovery through reducing muscle and joint stiffness, and continuing to maintain full ranges of motion that don’t limit your movement. With more fluid movement you'll be more willing to hit that hard workout once your planned recovery period is over, and not have to wait long for your next hard set.

The 40+ Woman

Perimenopause is where your hormones are on a crazy unpredictable roller coaster ride. Some days they are up, some down, and some days you’ll get extremes of both. This is what causes the symptoms, such as hot flashes or night sweats. They are also responsible for brain fog, irritability and decreased sleep. Wait, there's more. Don't forget about tight joints, and decreased muscle and bone mass to name a few. These things can sometimes go away after menopause, but some may still linger. Regardless of which of these periods of your life you are in, wouldn't it be nice to have control over even just one of those issues? Tight joints perhaps? You’ll benefit from doing focussed mobility training along with your triathlon training which will make your journey to the finish line more enjoyable.

You may have noticed that it takes you longer to warm up. There may also be joint aches and pains sometimes for no apparent reason. Before your traditional warm up, an additional mobility specific warm up may be helpful. This mobility work focuses on slowly moving your joints to warm them and the nervous system up. While doing them you will also increase your heart rate. The nice thing about mobility work is that it is a GREAT post-exercise cool down too. Doing them post workout will help bring your heart rate down while calming your central nervous system.

Functional Range Conditioning Mobility

When I talk about mobility, many people think of typical stretching and dynamic warm ups. But that is not it. I’m talking about specific, joint movement patterns that focus on your available range of motion. These movements will also help you improve your range of motion and strength, in a controlled systematic way. This practice is called Functional Range Conditioning, FRC for short. In short it is to “increase one's active, usable ranges of motion by simultaneously improving articular mobility, strength/resilience, and neurological control”. All things that start to deteriorate when we hit perimenopause. See how they define mobility work here.

When I first start with my athletes or clients, they always get a mobility screen. With this I learn where their limiters are, and it gives us a place to start building them up to be more durable. These limiters are worked on by starting each session, be it their swim/bike/run or strength sessions with the specific mobility exercises to address their needs. Then this allows us to shorten their warm up and get right into the heart of the workout.

 

Here is a quick video (sped up x10) on how I prep my ankles and hips before I run. It has helped me tremendously with getting rid of ankle, hip and back stiffness at the beginning of my runs. I feel better, so I run better, longer, and recover quicker as a result.

Above is a video for those swimmers looking to improve their shoulder mobility and strength to have a more powerful swim stroke. This mobility exercise focuses on shoulder external rotation both in increasing your range of motion, but improving nervous system function/control of that range of motion, AND building strength in the new range of motion…turn the volume up, I was having microphone issues.

The Long Haul

Are you looking to stay in your sport as long as YOU want to? If yes, then you’ve got to focus on more than swim, bike and run fitness. I’ve seen some amazing older athletes. At Nationals, this year, the oldest female competitor (and oldest competitor) was 84. This doesn't just happen. Go beyond SBR and work on your strength and especially your mobility.

Mobility: Often misunderstood, yet it is the Building Block of Movement

Why are we talking about mobility so much lately? Some people lump it in with stretching/flexibility, or think it is stretching. That is only part of the equation. First let’s define flexibility, the ability to have an outside force applied to a part of your body and that force moves your body part into a position where you feel a stretch of your muscles. This is what we call a passive stretch. Whereas mobility is your ability to control and move your body/joints through a certain range of motion with strength, thus an active movement. In most cases we have more flexibility than we have mobility. Meaning we can be passively moved into a deeper range of motion than what we can control actively.

Why do we stretch? 

Most people believe it is to become more flexible. That depends on the reason you are stretching, and the process you are using. When done with mobility principles, stretching can change muscle length, joint strength and control, and neurologic control. When done with dynamic stretching principles, it can help prep the muscles for the activity you are about to take part in.

The Science

For quite some time stretches have been given on a basis of time, from 10-30 seconds. When we are talking mobility those stretches are going to need to be held much longer, up to 2 minutes. In general a stretch is going to activate either the muscle spindle or golgi tendon units. Wait what? I  know science terms. I’ll explain. The muscle spindle is within the muscle belly and sends signals to the brain about the length and changes in the length of a muscle. The Golgi tendon organ (GTO) is in the muscle-tendon junction and signals the amount of force being applied to a muscle back to the brain. 

When a muscle is rapidly stretched, the muscle spindle signals its muscle to contract to prevent it from going too far, too quickly. Ultimately, the muscle spindle functions to alert the brain that nearby joints and soft tissues are in danger of being stretched too far. These are important concepts in understanding body awareness (also known as proprioception and kinesthetic awareness).

GTOs sense muscular tension within muscles when they contract or are stretched. When the GTO is activated during stretching, it inhibits muscle spindle activity within the working muscle so a deeper stretch can be achieved. GTOs are sensitive to changes in tension and rate of tension and, because they are located in the musculotendinous junctions, they are responsible for sending information to the brain as soon as they sense an overload. Static stretching is one example of how muscle tension signals a GTO response. So, when you hold a low-force stretch for more than ten seconds, the increase in muscle tension activates the GTO, which temporarily inhibits muscle spindle activity thus reducing tension in the muscle, and allows for further stretching.

The Science Applied

Whew, we got through that. Now when we apply a stretch to a muscle, the first thing that happens is the muscle spindle reacts to the lengthening of the muscle and may cause a muscle contraction is the movement is too fast of too much pressure, once the stretch has been held for more than 10 or so seconds the GTO kicks in, relaxes the reflex muscle contraction and allows you to feel the muscle being stretched. This does not change the length of your muscle though. This only calms the nervous system to allow the muscle to relax, or a contract if you apply more force. These short stretch relaxes can help to calm the system down before starting an exercise program, but again do not change the length of the muscle or its firing pattern.

Now that we understand that stretching affects muscle control and allows you to start exercising without causing injury. Now let's talk about mobility. Again this is your controlled range of motion. In order to create more range of motion that you can control, those stretches need to be held for a much longer time, and be accompanied by active muscle contractions and passive muscle stretching. Some people have heard of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation. This is where the concept started. Over the last decade however, research has dove deeper and found that in order to make change to the muscle length you must hold the stretch for 2 minutes. 

Mobility and Functional Range Conditioning (FRC)

The principles of FRC are based on creating not only better flexibility, but also strength through that new range of motion. It does this by focussing on joint function. We start by assessing the joint's ability to be moved (flexibility), then compare it to the joint's active range of motion (mobility), then compare that to the requirements for the sport or activity you are looking to participate in.

Example of Mobility

Let's use the example of hip flexion in cycling. Cyclists need a significant amount of hip flexion in order to achieve the proper cycling motion without causing movement of the hips on the saddle. When we look at a hip joint the primary movement is rotation. Wait what you just said we were looking at hip flexion. Yes, but in order for a hip to be able to flex properly, it MUST be able to rotate to allow flexion and even extension to happen. In FRC we look to see if there is abnormal hip rotation and we address that FIRST. Once we have determined what the hip needs, we then work it. You can see in this video that working the mobility of hip rotation is a several minute process, but one that results both in increased joint range of motion and also your ability to create force, aka strength, at that new range. 

The amazing part of working mobility is that it also includes working your strength without the need for weights. You get to use your body's internal resistance to help build strength in your joints. The hip rotation is just one example of how to work hip mobility. Everyone’s needs are different and each person may need a different set up for this particular hip mobility exercise.

FRC, what is it?

As many of you know, in January I decided to attend a couple clinics to further
my knowledge in the health and fitness field. Now that I have had some time to
let all that information settle and actually start putting some of it into practice,
I wanted to share with you what I have done.

The first conference I attended was called Functional Anatomy Seminars,
where I got certified as a Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist,
or FRCms for short. Okay so you're thinking so what do all those letters really
mean though. Great question!

Developed by Dr. Andreo Spina, is a system for joint health and mobility training
based on scientific principles and research. Mobility refers to the amount of usable
motion (or Range Of Motion) that one possesses across a particular articulation
(joint). The more mobile a person is, the more they are able to maximize their
movement safely, efficiently, and effectively. While improving mobility, the FRC
system also acts to safeguard your joints so that movement can be executed
safely while you are building strength, or participating in your preferred sport or
activity. Lastly, these training principles help improve the function of your nervous
system by training your body to accept loads through the entire range of motion
of a joint. This leads to a reduction of pain and injury, increased joint health and
longevity, as well as an increased ability to move freely and easily.

Still confused? Let me see if I can break it down more. First this course looks at the
difference between what we know and call flexibility and mobility and shows us the
true difference. We also learned what the difference between these two terms means,
and what happens when there is inequality between the two.

Let me start with flexibility. Flexibility is defined as how much your joints can BE
moved through a certain range of motion. Meaning for example laying on your
back, how far can you use a stretching strap or partner to stretch your hamstring
muscle. This does not equate to how far you can actively lift your leg while lying
on your back, that is mobility (more on that later). What Dr. Spina found that
the more flexibility people had compared to mobility, the more injuries and pain
they reported. In most training programs we were taught to stretch to increase
muscular length and that that would in effect allow people to participate in activities
with less pain or injury. This has actually been found to be false.
  
Here is an example of how using the FRS system can help you. Let's use the squat
as an example. In order to do a squat you have to be able to dorsiflex your ankles
(bring the top of your foot closer to your shin), and be able to flex your knees and hips.
Most of the time we can do a little bit of each of those motions enough to make the
squat look good. So you are going along adding more weight to your squat and you get
to a point where all of a sudden you start getting knee, or ankle or even back pain,
or you feel like you just can't get any deeper in your squat. Many times we just keep
pushing through thinking oh I'll get through this if I just push hard enough. Now by
implementing some FRC techniques we would step back and see first what type of
squatting you want to do. Then based on the squat you want to do, look at your mobility
and see if you have all the prerequisites for the movement, then start training the
movement(s).

The movements we would train are ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion and rotation, and
hip flexion and rotation. To do this we would start by assessing each of those joints
mobility through the use of CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations). After some time
practicing the CARs we would add in some resisted PAILS and RAILS (these
techniques will be discussed in a later blog), then finish with more CARs to see how
much the PAILs and Rails affected your mobility. Once the joints in question are
working in the correct capacity needed to perform your squat is achieved then you
can go back to your loaded squats and give it another try.

There is obviously a lot more to this as I simplified it a lot for the sake of this post. I hope
you found this blog post helpful, and I know some of you have already experienced a
few of these techniques with me. I will continue to implement these new techniques with
all those who need them. If you have any questions on this system, or are interested in
doing an entire hour of mobility training please feel free to reach out to me. I'm always
here for you.