Recovering from Overtraining

RowCycle

Hello,

I'm currently in a state of overtraining.

I'm guessing I'm not alone in having been in this state. Does anyone have any tips for recovery? - I'm guessing plenty of rest.

I did a search on the forum but was still wondering.

Thanks

P_Tucker

What, exactly, leads you conclude that you are overtrained?

StageWinner

I would think that 90%+ of posters on here do NOT suffer from overtraining as they don't actually have a high enough training load to OVERtrain.

Perhaps you can tell us how much riding you do?

And yes - the simplest answer is rest and recovery. It's not rocket science.

RowCycle

I don't do a lot of cycling as my main sport is rowing, been training for a marathon so had some long training.

I say over training, as my resting heart rate is normally mid-low 50's and is now mid-high 60's. My white blood cell count is low. I'm fatigued, muscles feel tired and heavy even though not trained for a week.

Doctor performed some blood tests, thought I might have had a virus, but no signs and I don't feel ill, so thought it could be overtraining.

It may mild but I think it still is some overtraining, the symptoms suggest such.

neilo23

Don't train for a few days?

Herbsman

Eat more food and get more sleep

P_Tucker

Well, whatever it is, if you feel knackered the solution is always to rest.

BigDarbs

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

saprkzz

Rest Rest Rest!!.. the only cure...

I went from 1 or 2 days a week of cycling, to 4-5 nights in quite a sho9rt period.

I overdid it, and my legs locked (thigh muscles) in a lot of pain, and feeling tired and knackered... Spent a week with no exercise, and then the following 2 weeks at 50-60%, and then increased.. I am now back to full training and legs can cope perfectly and even thinking a little stronger, I think we need a rest now and again!

bompington

Believe me, under-training is much harder to recover from

ut_och_cykla

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

surely overtraining (or over reaching ) is personal - if I usually do 2 hours a week and push it suddenly & continuously up to 12 I think I might risk symptoms of overtraining. If you're knackered - rest, if you're ill, rest....

amaferanga

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

BigDarbs

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

He was trying to say that there is a difference between being tired (sore legs etc) and overtrained. He was indicating that with 10 hours training on the bike and 158 hours a week not training there is just not enough load to reach overtraining, tired yes, overtrained, no.

amaferanga

BigDarbs wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

He was trying to say that there is a difference between being tired (sore legs etc) and overtrained. He was indicating that with 10 hours training on the bike and 158 hours a week not training there is just not enough load to reach overtraining, tired yes, overtrained, no.

While I agree that there's a huge difference between being a bit tired and being overtrained (I often get the impression with cyclists that they want to be able to say they were overtrained as if its some kind of badge of honour), I still don't agree with needing at least 20 hours to become overtrained. You could say the same with 20 hours really - 148 hours to recover is surely enough?

doyler78

BigDarbs wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

He was trying to say that there is a difference between being tired (sore legs etc) and overtrained. He was indicating that with 10 hours training on the bike and 158 hours a week not training there is just not enough load to reach overtraining, tired yes, overtrained, no.

I overtrained on about 11 hours per week. I overtrained so bad that it took me months to recover. That's real world.

springtide9

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

I think the bit you are missing (and hence slating the GP for no reason) was probably the conversation that the guy had with the GP about his training schedule prior to the GP advising on whether he was over training or not.

doyler78

springtide9 wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

I think the bit you are missing (and hence slating the GP for no reason) was probably the conversation that the guy had with the GP about his training schedule prior to the GP advising on whether he was over training or not.

Sorry but I can't marry that with that last paragraph. 20 hours is 20 hours and therefore the inference was that anything under 20 hours a week training load could not lead to overtraining.

springtide9

doyler78 wrote:

springtide9 wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

BigDarbs wrote:

I went to my GP earlier this season with a very heavy cold that I couldn't shift.

He is a triathelte, and is very sensible in considering the need to train, race etc.

He asked me about the amount of training hours I do a week (which is 7 - 10 hours) and he stated that he won't begin to consider over-training until it clears 20 hours a week.

Rubbish. Someone training hard for 10-15 hours a week could easily become over-trained if they kept it up for long enough and didn't ease off at all. Just goes to show you should never take much notice of what triantelopes say....

I think the bit you are missing (and hence slating the GP for no reason) was probably the conversation that the guy had with the GP about his training schedule prior to the GP advising on whether he was over training or not.

Sorry but I can't marry that with that last paragraph. 20 hours is 20 hours and therefore the inference was that anything under 20 hours a week training load could not lead to overtraining.

The word you are looking for is 'context'. How on earth can you comment on a conversation when you have only heard one sentence LOL

BigDarbs

Clearly, its not that black and white, its not a limit that flicks a switch. The GP was giving an indication of the sort of hours where overtraining may have been my issue.

I thought I was overtrained as I had had a busy start to the road racing and TT season but it was actually a virus.

Also, don't underestimate the benefit of having a GP who understands sport and competition, its worth its weight in gold!

doyler78

@springtide9 I can comment on a conversation that is presented here so as to challenge its content It was important that I did that because I knew that statement to be too generalised to be useful IMHO.

@BigDarbs - my 11 hours is a considerable difference from 20 hours - it's actually too far for it to be considered around the 20 hour mark. That's my own personal experience of it.