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The phrase "over-training" gets mentioned on here a fair bit on diet threads as a counter to "exercise more to lose weight".
I'm genuninely interested to hear about over-training. I know it exists, I've read about some of the symptoms, but I'm yet to talk to anyone that has actually experienced it?
Cheers.
Most people do not over train but under recover.
not done it yet
My medical knowledge is not sufficient to give an opinion on "over-training"...
What I do know, is that if I commute more than, say 3x per week, or two consecutive days, or in poor weather, I will get very fatigued - physically and mentally, generally followed a week or so later by flu type cold / general lethargy and shiteness.
53 - currently 85kg [recently down from 89.5]
Monday - 5 mile run/jog 9minute miles, 20 mile road ride 16mph
Tuesday - 5 mile run/jog 9minute miles, 20 mile road ride 16mph
Wednesday - 5 mile run/jog 9minute miles, 20 mile road ride 16mph
Thursday - 5 mile run/jog 9minute miles, 20 mile road ride 16mph
Friday - 5 mile run/jog 9minute miles, 20 mile road ride 16mph
Saturday - 60 mile road ride 16mph
Sunday - 30 mile road ride 16mph
All the runs are pre-breakfast, all the rides are pre lunch
Been doing this for 4 weeks now, feel absolutely fine
i believe its the name for the phenomenon when you have done a bit more riding/running than usual, and realise that you are fed up of it / losing motivation / not getting noticeably faster... and decide enough's enough.
in all the time i have been riding i've never heard one of the faster lads get afflicted with over training...
rkk01 - how long is your commute? Do you adjust your diet for the increased activity... especially in rubbish weather?
jota - personally I'd switch out Wednesday for swimming and yoga but it looks as if you're sensibly restricting the level of exertion in your sessions.
tracknicko +1 - so it's when you fancy having a day off... probably the day after you've been out and got hammered the night before.
i believe its the name for the phenomenon when you have done a bit more riding/running than usual, and realise that you are fed up of it / losing motivation / not getting noticeably faster... and decide enough's enough.
I thought it was like post viral fatigue. As in you train hard. Don't eat right and don't allow proper recovery; in terms of either shake down exercise or no exercise etc. Then you get caught in the doldrums and it is very difficult to recover from any exercise that you do and get ill easily.
When I was climbing and preparing for my first competitions, I think I probably overdid it. I came down with a type of flu thing that laid me up for a few weeks. This was a pretty intense amount of training though and I was training at least 8 hours a day.
At other times, In hindsight I think I would have seen better progress if I had trained less obsessively or programmed more rest/recovery. Like swedish chef said.
I very much doubt if a recreational rider would ever have the time to over train. I think in diet threads its just a smokescreen for "I am not prepared to give up cake".
but it looks as if you're sensibly restricting the level of exertion in your sessions.
What do you mean? - that's as fast as I can manage 😀
i do strongly prescribe rest though. i'd imagine the chap above doing 7 days a week would be utterly shagged if he got entered in a mid week race...
i'd really struggle to find good/my best form on any given day if i had ridden non stop for all of the proceeding days.
not exactly 'overtraining' tho, just lack of rest!
Sorry jota 😳
not personally
two friends have suffered quite badly tho.
One is gym/weights/mma training
lead to multiple muscle and 'trapped nerve' kind of injurys. He was training 1hr pre work, 30mins lunch, 2-4hrs per evening. 7 days a week. A rest day involved missing the morning or lunch workouts. The first couple of years were ok, achieved black belt in aikido in under 18mths, as the training increased, the problems get worse. (Under Recovery)
Other went from a sedentry lifestyle to 18hr days of full on training, picked up shin splints, eventually correctly diagnosed as a tibial stress fracture. 5mths off (on crutches) and counting. MRi next week. (Ramped up too quickly)
Isn't it just a term used to avoid the real cause of why you're feeling or performing badly - such as poor nutrition, poor recovery, poor training schedule... etc..
so what we are learning is these aren't the kind of things that are going to afflict a fatty who is upping his riding from once to say 3 times a week?
I've opened a training spreadsheet.
Well, it's a start.
That means tomorrow should be a rest day.
TSY - 14 miles each way - hilly, includes off-road.
jota 180 - BUT, how hard do you push yourself???
alex222
I thought it was like post viral fatigue
That's exactly my experience - wipes me out, even after what should be a modest number of exercise events - like, say 3x commutes.
BUT, coming back to
how hard do you push yourself???
I ride my commutes pretty much flat out
tracknicko - the anecdotal evidence we've gainied so far is certainly suggesting you're right.
Infact they could probably exercise everyday... eating well, sleeping well, doing some decent stretching, mixing up the format of exercise... all probably a good thing and will allow people to safely increase their volume of activity. If they want to of course.
DD - want some formulas...
wahey! my 1st time of ever being told i'm right on a forum!
Over-training or over-racing? I can relate pretty much all the adverse effects of exercise to the latter. A fatigue fracture, tendinitis, inability to reach normal max heart rate, muscular injuries. All have occured during periods of racing rather than training.
It's hard to do too much on a bike - "no such thing as junk miles", but easy to run too hard for too long.
If you're doing that flat out I'd have days off inbetween... do some running or swimming... something else. Or do it slower, which IMO is a waste of time.
jota 180 - BUT, how hard do you push yourself???
Typically on the runs I'm at 80-90% MHR and 70-80% on the bike
It obviously goes up a bit from that on the ups but I can't maintain it
I run pretty much everyday in the morning ATM. I do anything from sprints ( flat out) to 10k been doing it for a couple of weeks and this morning I struggled to get going for the first time. Sprints on the planner and really struggled. Weather doesn't help
Sleep as soon as I hit the pillow, and no appetite. Had to force myself last night
If you think doing it slowly is a waste of time, Yeti, try riding a bike at least 100km every day for two weeks but never getting out of breath. Then taper to 30km for two days, enter a sportive and see how you go.
emsz - you don't eat properly. I know other girls like you!
re: the other thread... you got any tanning tips?
Sprints on the planner and really struggled. Weather doesn't help
I love running in bad weather
If it's hot, I hate it
Or do it slower, which IMO is a waste of time.
I thought shake down rides are good for you though. They help your body purge lactic acid caused by hard exercise.
I believe they are, but if you're (meaning I'm) doing the same route it's hard not to race yourself.
I've just named saved and closed the spreadsheet.
Jesus, I'm shagged.
Well yeah so do a different route? Ride the mtb? Do some other forms of exercise that put less strain on your cardio vascular system?
I've been trying really hard to eat properly actually. No more yoghurt and granola !!
Jota, I don't mind the rain, but it's May, I could do with some warmth!!
Yeti, it's not the tan that's interesting, it's the White bits 😉
Alex - 100% agreed... but he was talking about comuting more than 3 days a week...
emsz - I'm going to derail my own thread... what's wrong with yoghurt and granola?
I have experienced overtraining; late 80's i got heavily involved in triathlon. I was self employed and took 18 months out to train and race; i was training 3 times a day 4-5 days a week 6th day would be long ride/swim. Unfortunatly i didn't cut back when i raced, so ended up with some superb pb's and high placeings in the first part of the season, but then fatigue kicked in and i ended up crawling around a 10k road race (and felt very sick) and subsequently had to pull out of all races planned for second half of the season, just lost the motivation and energy to race.
Was good experience though and taught me a lot about resting and recovery.
he was talking about comuting more than 3 days a week
Yes sorry I am getting sidelined.
I can pretty much live off onken and sainsbury granola, but it's just shit food really isn't it? I can cook, and when gf is down or Chris has mates round I can happily spend all day making pizzas or soup or whatever. I made 20 burgers for the football the other week!! LOL
I'm cooking and freezing LoL
I have over trained, maybe about 4/5 years ago. I was training twice a day and working full time in a very stressful job. I've now totally changed the way i look at my training, less is more and all that. I'm now very strict on recovery/rest days, use resting hr to see whether i can exercise or not etc etc. I had found a level which suited me and meant i could train hard and rest/recover well but that's all been thrown up in the air with my new training plan which has lots more in it that i'd ideally like.
I think its more of a case of under resting really...its hard to rest properly, ie feet up, no stress whatsoever, go for an afternoon nap etc when you have to work full time/do the shopping/chores/lifestuff etc on top of training.
...its hard to rest properly, ie feet up, no stress whatsoever, go for an afternoon nap etc
I think this is a very personal thing. I find it pretty easy, actually I find it really easy.
"over" training is required to stress your body into a positive response.
Most of us "under" train now and spend time looking for symptoms of the former.
Our bodies ability to adapt is incredible and we seldon scratch the surface. Magazine articles on how to "get fit by eating burgers" or "how to run in the rain" etc and buy more gear are largely to blame. 🙄
Filtering across from the other thread - I managed, through a combination of way too much hard commuting, new child, stressful job and too much on top to completely blunt any gains I should have made. I had a season that finished practically as it started.
Result was 4 months of illness and I'm not unconvinced that my heart problems aren't related to this.
(Now, of course, I do SFA and walking up the stairs is enough to knacker me)
I did too much in 2009, commuting Cardiff-Bristol. I felt profoundly knackered, it came on after the first few weeks and I kept trying despite it all. Took me 18 months to get my vitality back when riding. It was pretty bad. I kept trying to train, and being crap at it. Only several periods of 6-8 weeks of inactivity helped.
I've experienced overtraining a number of times in the gym, but have never had it on the bike (probably because I rarely ride more than 3 times a week)
Sounds like you should've listened to your body Mol... and possibly not upped your volume so quickly.
Yep. Result: overtraining.
What distance is that commute BTW? About 100 miles all in??