Author Topic: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'  (Read 2800 times)

Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« on: 04 April, 2016, 08:48:22 pm »
I got into Audaxing in 2013, had a great year 2014 to 2015 clocking up 50 points plus other unrecorded rides and completing a double RRTY in Feb this year.  However I think I've paid a price in that I'm now 'overtrained'.  In my last few Audax I've either failed to finish or been very much in the 'Lantern rouge' classification.  Looking back at my ride times when I first started I was averaging 100km (including stops) in 5 hours or less). More recently my 100km timing has been 6.5 hours or more.  Typically I'll have around two hours of stops during my rides.

Having done a bit of reading around on the subject it seems that 200km and 300km were actually beyond my capability at the time (to parapharase other input on this forum I'm not fit for a dance afterwards) and so whilst I've seen a definite increase in leg muscle, that hasn't delivered a significant increase in performance over Audax distances.

Based on the reading I've done I think I now need to take a step back for a couple of months or more whilst doing the following.

* change the balance of my diet to remove processed carbohydrates and increase protein.
* two or three shorter rides (1 hour ish) and one longer ride (<100km) at an easy pace during the week
* one 1-1.5 hour maximal effort ride each week
* drink a LOT more water.

If anyone has any other advice on recovering from overtraining, or could advise someone I could consult in the Cambridge area, your tips would be most welcome.






Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #1 on: 04 April, 2016, 09:31:25 pm »
I think your proposed approach to focus on your nutrition and fluid intake is very sensible. Simply doing a double RRtY does not in itself make me think you've been overdoing things. Also, scaling back on the rides for a while, but including some higher intensity efforts, will help to improve your overall pace.

If possible, you should look back at your riding time for past events, not just elapsed time. That'll give you a more accurate comparison, especially if you can combine the other factors relating to the ride (amount of climbing, wind, temperature). That'll be easier to do if you've been using a GPS, but not impossible if not.

Your suggestion that you've reduced from 5 hours for a 100km ride to 6.5 hours, including 2 hours of stops, does not sound like an accurate comparison. A 5 hour 100km with 2 hours of stops would be 33km/h, which is quite some pace. Whereas if those early rides were done with only 1 hour of stops, and the latter rides were with 2 hours of stops, then the riding time difference would be from 4 hours (25 km/h average) to 4.5 hours (22 km/h average), which could very easily be explained by other factors such as wind or terrain.

My point is just that if you start to use riding time for comparison, it'll be easier to monitor changes as you progress back to the position where you want to be.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #2 on: 05 April, 2016, 06:50:55 am »
I`d also suggest that you change one factor at a time; if you make all 4 listed changes how do you know which has been the key factor?
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #3 on: 05 April, 2016, 09:08:01 am »
I'd agree that overall ride times means that the data is a bit woolly.  I have some free time at the moment and I do have some gps records so I can go back and do a bit of digging.  The stoppage time I quoted above is per ride not per 100km  so apologies if I was a bit misleading.


Gruby Mits

  • I am in this only for the cake factor
Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #4 on: 05 April, 2016, 10:34:25 am »
Is hard to define overtraining, but if you feel always fatigued and getting slower you could be heading to the land of the overtrained. If you also fill ill (and have no medical condition to give it a reason) then you know you have just booked yourself in for an unpleasant stay. But watch it, you could have some medical condition that is dictating your athletic demise - you possibly will know if you have done too much in recent months/years?

I hope you are not too overcooked by now, if you are still able to ride long (even when slowing in your perception) hopefully some extensive rest will help.

There is not much info available, or helpful apart from some glossy mag short articles that I found on the web. Nor a place to go (sport medicine etc.??? that I found where to get help)

This is a start though if you have not already come across it:
http://philmaffetone.com/the-overtraining-syndrome/
Also the Maf test (though intended for walking or running) might be adapted to turbo (maybe someone has a protocol for you?) to monitor if rest is helping?

If you feel that you are fatigued when riding and can't shake it off over a period of time (weeks) then the first thing I would suggest is really long rest.
Also if you feel down-stressed-confused generally it is a sign that fatigue is carrying it too far...
Yes to improve nutrition and hydration, but not to trying to any structure training. In my experience it still forces you to go out when you are tired.
When you feel rested just do a very easy ride, short and nice. Then rest again. Keep active (walk or commute) but be ready to step back.

Once you will feel "normal" again, then go ahead and re-structure your training but with the intent of limiting your efforts. Start very small and then build up oh so slow. Plan your calendar carefully in advance.
The land of the over trained is a huge dark horrible place, please do not linger here.

My experience (so that you can take my suggestion with some context - pinch of salt) 6 months to impode from first warning signs (was training 12-16 hours a week and racing regularly) - 6 months of hell once I stopped training -as feeling ill weak so fatigued that sleeping during work and struggling with house chores, but I was still hoping to shake it off... then total rest 2 months... and slowly (and I mean slowly) got better. Now 2.5 years later I feel normal but can't yet do any training above mild intensity and have to compensate for a long day in the saddle with a few days rest, but hopefully still getting stronger.

So definitely I am suggesting rest as the key to get back to normal. Good luck!
What? Turn left that way?

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #5 on: 05 April, 2016, 10:39:20 am »
Only you can judge how hurt your legs are after a ride. If you judge that you can’t cycle to work tomorrow, don’t.

One tip I can forward is,,
“Following a ride, and after a hot shower, do your legs hurt when walking DOWN stairs?”

This is a sure sign you have micro-trauma deep in the muscles.

Don’t ride at any rigorous level until you can trot DOWN stairs without pain.

Not 'overtrained',,, "Exhausted" more like.

Samuel D

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #6 on: 05 April, 2016, 10:45:03 am »
How much sleep are you getting? In my case, sleep is more important than food (and certainly more important than protein, which most people eat more than enough of) in terms of recovery.

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #7 on: 05 April, 2016, 10:58:59 am »
A big BIG mistake a lot of new distance cyclists make is taking long stops and rushing between them. At the long stops, the muscles cool and when the rush resumes, damage in the inner muscle can occur.

Tip. Take it easy. Take shorter stops to avoid excessive cooling and only really pedal hard on steep hills when you run out of gears.

Tip. Time your ride so you finish with 1 hour spare JIC there are punctures. On a 6hr 20m 100km, aim to finish in 5hr 20m. Two stops of ten minutes each = 5hrs riding time, which is a 20 kmh average riding speed. EASY!
This means a 200 is 10hrs 40m inc four 10 minute stops.

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #8 on: 07 April, 2016, 07:06:33 am »
I find long stops a real problem as I easily stiffen up. 100k is one stop to buy a latte at petrol station. 200k might e 3stops of that length plus a couple of wee stops as required.

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #9 on: 08 April, 2016, 02:02:01 pm »
Thanks for all the comments and support.  I've had a particularly lethargic week probably compounded by trying too hard to reduce carbs in the diet to try and boost fat metabolism.  I'm fortunate enough to be between contracts at the moment so have been able to take things relatively easy.

When Audaxing I very much try to ride within myself so try to stick to heart rate limits of 130 bpm or less for the first third, 140 bpm or less for the second third and then anything goes for the remainder.

I have no problems with long stops when restarting.  In fact I often feel a lot more energised and am quite happy to tootle along for 15 minutes or so to warm up again.  Unfortunately I am a profuse sweater so stops tend to be more than 10 minutes as I usually need to refill two water bottles, visit the loo (twice!!), have a cup of tea and some cake or other suitable comestibles.

I was able to garner some information from rides I'd uploaded to Strava which shows that when I started Audaxing two years ago I had a moving average of ~25 kph and an overall average of 20 kph.  My more recent rides have been a moving average of 20 kph and overall average of 15-17 kph.  Given the amount of Audaxing I've done you might have expected a different picture which is why I'm suspecting that I've been slowing running myself down.

I suspect a significant contributing factor is that I am a carbo junkie and rely on energy drink to get me around.  So going forward I'll be trying to boost my fat burning  and keep a careful eye on the carbs.

I've done two short rides this week and found no particular aches and pains in the legs, but with the reduced carbo input it has been easy to notice that there is no top end power.  I've set myself a target of riding 100km Audex with a moving avarage of 25 kph  with no carb input before restarting riding longer distances on a regular basis.

Re: Advice required on recovering from 'overtraining'
« Reply #10 on: 05 May, 2016, 02:48:04 pm »
http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/pthms_fac/4/
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-015-2125-8
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stuart_Phillips/publication/263936467_Protein-Leucine_Fed_Dose_Effects_on_Muscle_Protein_Synthesis_After_Endurance_Exercise/links/53e7a7f70cf25d674ea5eaf1.pdf
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/683/art%253A10.1186%252F1550-2783-10-51.pdf

Read those if you want to spend some money on BCAA and protein supplementation. There are other papers you could read if you didn't. Meta-analyses are inconclusive, but that's likely because the trials are crappy.

I just bought a watermelon flavoured BCAA supplement because the shop manager cooed over my audaxing, it was on sale, and a quick look on google scholar suggested it might help. It tastes lovely, and mixes well. He gave me a load of baggies so I can use it on events.

Subjectively, boosting my protein intake (keeping energy balance stable) when I've felt burnt out has made me feel much better really quickly.