General Weakness ?

mr_eddy

Advice please.

Over the last few weeks I have been feeling overly exhausted just riding to work, Nothing has changed - My breakfast is the same bowl of porridge and fruit and my commute is the same distance. The bike is the same and the tyre pressures the same as is my weight and my daily routine. Apart from the lethargy I feel fit and well and do not have any sypmptoms of a cold etc ?

Its all very odd - Its getting quite bad now, I am 34 years old on a drop bar road bike with slicks and I am being overtaken sometimes by people on dutch style shoppers ?! A few months ago I would average probably 16-18mph on my 9 mile run into work, I would guess I am down to probably 10-12 now ?

The only difference I can think of is I have started swimming at lunch time but only 30 mins - Could this be the cause.


Anyone else had this - Thoughts?

I am thinking of taking the bus to work for a couple of days to see if a break improves things but any advice would be appreciated.

fat daddy

yes, if you were on the limit of food vs exercise and now you have added swimming to that .... and a relatively new exercise that your body is amazingly inefficient at, you will suffer.

you either need to eat more .... rest more ..... or suck it up until your body gets better at swimming.

Maybe take a couple of days off the commute and drive in just for a week

tangled_metal

Sounds like what I was like a few weeks back. Feeling good but going slow. Just could not move my legs any faster. Never worked out the cause but it cleared after about 3 weeks to a month. In fact when I got over it coincided with a bad cold. Even.despite the cold my times and speeds were getting higher than when I was in the slump.

Give it time and just work through it. Also really check your bike over just in case there is something working against you.

I gave my drivetrain a clean up and lube plus raised the tyre pressure a to the nearer the high end for the tyre. I think it helped a little, if not it was a psychological effect.

mr_eddy

Thanks for the advice, I think I will maybe try adding in some mid day snacks to fuel the swim as a mid morning snack but also try and man up. Glad to hear its not just me, Re the bike I am a bit OCD about cleaning my bike so I know its not that.

I suppose I could be suffering from low level cold but not displaying symptoms ?

Failing all that I will rest up for a few days and see what happens.

Ta.

kingrollo

general fatugue and colder weather.

take care - I tried to push through such a feeling - ended up with a hip injury that put me off the bike for 3 years....take a rest.

fenix

It does get harder in cold air - but if people are passing you on sit up bikes - i'm thinking its more you than general.

I'd take an easy week. No swimming. Minimal biking.

Then see what you feel like.

redvision

kingrollo wrote:

general fatugue and colder weather.

take care - I tried to push through such a feeling - ended up with a hip injury that put me off the bike for 3 years....take a rest.

I did something similar.

OP, listen to your body. You need some time off at some point to allow your body to recover.
I used to be so naive and trained virtually every day, even if i was totally shattered. Eventually something had to snap and I ended up with a serious knee injury which has already needed one op and likely to require another.

Take a few weeks off the bike, and off exercise. Just allow your body to recharge. Focus on getting plenty of sleep and eating the right things. You will soon feel better, revitalised and will regain the level of fitness you are at relatively quickly when you start training again.

tangled_metal

If you need to cycle to get to work, like I did, then just go.slowly. Take plenty of time to get anywhere. Accept being overtaken and start to look around you more as you're able to because of the low speed. Take the time to enjoy just.being out there and not rushing.

Just a thought. That's what I did, just stop caring about the speed and keeping up with someone or not getting overtaken on a hill by a mother on a 3 speed shopper with a child on.the back for awhile. That's what I did.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Could simply be swimming taking its toll on your energy reserves.

Tried taking multi-vitamins and increasing food intake a little?
Is the chain well lubed?

So far, I've got a far milder form of the lurgy my better half has had for a couple of weeks, plus I've noticed more head winds recently.

arthur_scrimshaw

Tangled Metal wrote:

If you need to cycle to get to work, like I did, then just go.slowly. Take plenty of time to get anywhere. Accept being overtaken and start to look around you more as you're able to because of the low speed. Take the time to enjoy just.being out there and not rushing.

Just a thought. That's what I did, just stop caring about the speed and keeping up with someone or not getting overtaken on a hill by a mother on a 3 speed shopper with a child on.the back for awhile. That's what I did.

+ 1 zillion.

I used to ride pretty much every day, I commuted to work then (social) club run Saturday and another 40 or so miles solo on Sunday. When I had to drop a day because of commitments I found I was far more energetic when I got back on the bike. I now take Saturdays off and my commutes are now a mix of faster stuff if I'm in the mood or as TM says above, a gentle cruise in taking in the scenery.

mr_eddy

Thanks again for the advice, The clear winner here is taking some time off. Defo going to take the bus next week and hold off swimming. Will report back.

davep1

If you ride every day and have added swimming to the mix, I think you just aren't getting any recovery. All the training programmes I have read about stress that recovery time is when the body rebuilds itself/adapts to the load you are putting on it, and most training programmes recommend something like one recovery week for every 3 of training.

dinyull

Had similar a month or so back. Seemed like my Glycogen stores were being depleted during the week (commuting and turbo work) which ruined my weekend rides. Have since changed to alternate days of effort/pootle and have been feeling much better for it on the weekend rides.

sloppyschleckonds

Probably a virus, cant see how a 9 mile communt is going to deplete you.

Plenty of apps out there to count calories for you.

HTH

vinnymarsden

I would go with the virus/overdoing it as a combination...I've just been out today , in the grip of a "killer dose of man flu"!! I felt okay, but I was streaming, and my average was a bit down...but at the end of the day I was out... I don't really care about averages...they're not good enough to get worked up about..just getting out..taking it steady if you feel crap is better that not going for fear of a lowered average.....

reacher

You don't say how hard that swim is in terms of intensity, 30 minutes for me would be a big effort, 30 minutes flat out would be a very big effort indeed

bristolpete

Over training in a hidden guise. We are but recreational riders who try and ahere to structure, and sometimes, we just want to ride, ride ride. I have been where you are and the smart money is on learning when to step off the bike and not ride. I do 100 miles a week commuting in the summer when the weather currys favour, and I can feel both the positive and negative impact. But, a few people I have ridden with in the past will take the last week of the month off and simply rest and recover. Anecdotal, but today I rode in for the first time in 10 days as had a break, went away, stepped off the bike. Today I was holding 19mph on the flat on my single speed no problem. But, tomorrow I will drive as mixing it up for the winter. Just give yourself time off. You will come back stronger.

pianoman

As someone who's spent most of this year using the 52x11 out of exhaustion on most clubruns because a half marathon training plan took priority I can well assure you that bringing a new stressor to the table whether longer rides, extra running miles or more intense exercise sessions will be a killer to begin with. Don't stop just ease back the intensity for a week or so and you'll become better for it, it would be far more worrying if you were suddenly becoming exhausted from the same activity week in week out.

Also think about when you're getting your refuelling done. It's all well and good saying "I'll need to eat more" but too many either overdo it by adding two giant-sized cakes a day (bad no matter which way you cut it) or they forget to eat sufficiently in the 30-minute window post exercise when the body is primed to reabsorb nutrients. Years ago I read something along those lines in the EAS magazine from an NFL quarterback when he said "I would have extra food but I wasn't having it at the right time" (actually it was a blatant plug for supplements but the timing is still just as important).

Brian B

Agree with all above and you need to take time off to let you body recover. This year I started doing weight training (mid forties crisis in that I had incredibly muscled legs and a puny getting upper body) and my cycling suffered until I sorted out my training regime and food requirements.

I now have to have way more protein some days and factor in some serious down time also. The time off is really important and more so as the older you get.

cycleclinic

Riding every day is not an issue once you are used to it. The swimming will add to your trainimg load and will cause extra fatigue. In time you will get fitter and you will not suffer from the swimmimg as well. You do need to eat another couple of hundred calories a day thought.

Also even though i ride every day i make no attempt to ride at the same speed. Yesterday i rode at 13mph average in the morning. The same on tuesday. This morning i did 2hrs on my heavy commutor at 17mph. I did ride my mtb though on sunday for 107miles with a 3hr race thrown in for good measure. The point being no matter how much you ride run or swim you cannot do it at the same pace everyday. Everyone needs recovery time that does not have to be a day of but a day where there are no efforts, maybe two days or three sometimes.

reacher

Would not common sense say stop swimming for a week and see what happens

bigmitch41

I had a similar experience, turned out my rear brake was dragging hence sapping power. Could be overdoing too & not enough food, take a few days off and take it easy.

I'd go for a check up and get your bloods checked just to be on the safe side if you don't see an improvement by next week.

tangled_metal

Bloods checked? What for and does the NHS actually do them based on request from patient? I'm pretty certain my gatekeeper of NHS resources (aka GP) would tell me it's unnecessary waste of resources and send me packing.

DeVlaeminck

I would suspect a virus but I do think the line between virus and over training is blurred - does over training lower the immune system to let a virus get a hold - does a virus mean a lower training load is too much - but in a healthy active individual I doubt what the OP has been doing is enough to cause fatigue to that extreme without some other underlying problem.

Either way the solution is rest - lower the training load - see how you are in a couple of weeks. I don't know if the OP has ever raced but I suspect any competitive cyclist who has raced for a number of years will have gone through periods of a few weeks where the legs just weren't producing the power that they normally do and that in almost all cases it resolves in a few weeks or a little longer.

mr_eddy

So to report back, I took the day off on Friday and over the weekend the missus and I took advantage of a local Spa deal so we spent 2 days basically doing nothing apart from sitting in sauna's and hot tubs and generally lounging around.

I have not been swimming for several days (I don't think the hot tub counts!).

I was intending on doing the bus this week but in their wisdom the bus company has switched to a once hourly service and pushed the price up 40% so I was forced to bike in this morning. Overall things were much better than they were last week, I am feeling fresher and my commute time whilst not as fast as over the summer is still far better than the last few weeks.

I also swapped out my tyres from some rock hard 28c Michelin Protec Plus to some slightly more supple albeit marginally more puncture prone vittoria touring 35c, The added comfort of 70 psi certainly helped on the way to work.

It seems therefore that a compromise of various replies given has worked best for me - I am still cycling to work but swimming is off for another week or so and the being a bit more relaxed approach (with the added comfort of wider rubber) has helped.

I will be taking things a little easier from now on, When I do start swimming again I will probably start off at a couple of times a week etc.

Ta.

mr_eddy

Side note - Michelin Protec Plus tyres are the most hateful tyres I have ever experienced, I thought all this time that it must be me but even after lowering the PSI it would be better but it still felt like rolling on concrete! They were 28c so lord knows what narrow versions would be like!

hsiaolc

Glad you are getting better.

So whats your average speed now? 16-18 is quite fast and gone back down to 10 is means something is seriously wrong.

Normally I just ride hard in the morning and cruise home (unless there are some competition) and I normally cycle 3-4 days instead of 4-5 like I used to. i find it much better for recovery especially Friday, Sat, Sun off. On Monday I always feel much faster and the legs so much stronger.

Take it slow and easy and you will see you get faster as you get more rest and recovery.

Also try different gearing while you are cruising to either train for cadence or strength.

Simon.T

Dear mr_eddy,

While cycling at a speed in between 14km and 16km, you have to burn over 300 calories per 30 minutes; where you need to burn over 240 calories per 30 minutes if you swim.

As you have started 30 minutes swimming session, so you need more food to fill the gap of your burnt calories or you need to reduce your cycling time and distance. It means you need to make a balance between these two with a necessary amount of resting time.

Hope you are clear now why you feel as you described and what to do next.

shimanobottombracket

Simon.T wrote:

Dear mr_eddy,

While cycling at a speed in between 14km and 16km, you have to burn over 300 calories per 30 minutes; where you need to burn over 240 calories per 30 minutes if you swim.

As you have started 30 minutes swimming session, so you need more food to fill the gap of your burnt calories or you need to reduce your cycling time and distance. It means you need to make a balance between these two with a necessary amount of resting time.

Hope you are clear now why you feel as you described and what to do next.

Why would you need to burn less calories to do a more vigorous exercise?

Its also possible OP has a medical issue with one of his vital organs such as liver or kidney trouble. Many serious conditions initially manifest as symptoms of weakness/lethargy. OP should get checked out to rule these possibilities out.