For the first couple weeks after the season you just relax. I go home for a little bit, play a couple of charity golf tournaments and I won’t work out for the first two or three weeks after the season. And I don’t do any baseball stuff until almost into December and maybe even later than that.

I will watch the playoffs. They’re fun to watch, especially since I’ve been in the league a couple years and have made good friends so I like to see how they do.

But after two or three weeks, I start exercising because I get bored. There’s really not much else to do. So it’s kind of nice to just go and work out and not have to worry about baseball. There’s something to look forward to every day — and when you’re used to doing something every single day for that long and then to not have to do anything, you get bored.

Once I start training again, I’ll work out four times a week. Without it, you feel worthless just sitting around and not doing anything. So it motivates you.

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Fortunately, I enjoy playing golf a lot. I’ll play two or three times a week. The charity tournaments are fun because you usually get a group of four, so I’ll take a couple buddies or golf with my brother and dad — things you don’t get to do during the season because you’re always doing something. It’s just nice to be able to spend time with people that you don’t get to see a lot during the season.

I’ll usually take a few vacations. In October, I’m going to Las Vegas — I’ve never been there — with some buddies. Then I’ll probably go to the Bahamas, where I’ve gone every offseason, for a week or so and relax. I’m going to the Super Bowl, like I did last year.

Because I bought a house up here, I’ll go back and forth between the D.C. area and Virginia Beach a lot. I have some charity golf tournaments to play in down there, too.

Then, about a month before spring training starts, my agency has a pre-workout camp where you do all baseball stuff. By the time you have a month in January in Florida and then another month and a half in spring training, you’ll be ready to go.

As told to The Examiner’s John Keim.

Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is one of baseball’s rising stars and, at 23, the face of the franchise. Now he’ll share his thoughts with The Examiner’s readers each week throughout the baseball season.