Off topic: overtraining

Michael Fuhr said:

I take my heart rate every morning as soon as I awaken and before
I get out of bed; if it's more than 3-4 beats higher than the day
before then I usually ride short and easy, or perhaps even take the
day off.

I always thought it had to be about 10 bpm higher B4 slowing down, so I
never paid attention to a small increase of my heartrate.

Quoted message said:

Pros are almost certainly in far better condition than you are

That's certain.

Quoted message said:

Don't think of recovery rides as something you're "forced" to do --
enjoy them as a time to relax and "take your bike for a walk," as
one of my friends puts it.

I know you're right about this, but I can't help myself: whenever I see
someone riding in front of me I automatically start riding faster..

There's also the feeling I haven't been training properly if I don't come
back exhausted. That doesn't help me either. I know it's important to rest,
but I don't seem to be able to do this (enough).

Quoted message said:

Perhaps you need to add more easy rides to your regular schedule

I'm certain you're right about that.

Quoted message said:

what are you doing for those 2 hours each day?

First of all I ride 7 days/week. During these 2 hours I ride often at 90% of
my maximum and during these rides I do some interval training riding
against small hills and bridges.

Quoted message said:

in addition to taking my heart rate every morning before I get out of
bed, I usually look at it when I put on my HRM as I'm getting ready to
ride. If it's higher than usual then that tells me I might need to take
it easy that day.

I'll start doing that too.

Greets, Derk

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>,

DRS said:

"Booker C. Bense"
<[email hidden]> wrote
in message news:[email hidden]

[...]

Quoted message said:

Generally, if you think you're overtraining, you probably are and

In fact, most people don't know the difference between overtraining and
merely having an off day. It's harder than they think to genuinely be
overtraining. The symptoms have to persist over an extended period of about
a fortnight. Overtraining can be quite serious.

_ If you've got two weeks of symptoms, it's too late. You'll
probably lose a month if not the whole season. The whole
point is to catch it before it get's serious. The last time I
told myself "Oh you're just having a bad day", I ended up with
walking pneumonia for 8 weeks.

_ A bad day is a message from your body, like pain sometimes
you ignore it or work through it, but you should never just
dismiss it.

_ Booker C. Bense

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBQV3IHGTWTAjn5N/lAQEmNAQAs3o6Pe1NFGfZgOd+jNWkKwgmDeznn+Co
Raot1P00u/kW6BRJHCDLV6dZMOuoA9yuQTZu8EWtTs76sJNXK7+GXu664131tm1M
AZuLNAlrmUP3biX+7d2H7vSn9OuBLEBYOXqX4fH3SgowSuH/sHxaWYTVlFSjfy5M
krONetSpjjs=
=vG3W
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Jay Beattie said:

"DRS" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Derk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I know it's not exactly TECH, but I don't know where else to

ask it.

Quoted message said:

Google is your friend.
http://www.google.com.au/search?as_q=overtraining+symptoms gets

over 14,000

Quoted message said:

hits.

Quoted message said:

Could anyone give a complete list of physical phenomena that

occur

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

when one suffers from serious overtraining?

Mild leg soreness, general achiness
Pain in muscles & joints
Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Sudden drop in ability to run 'normal' distance or times
Insomnia
Headaches
Inability to relax, twitchy, fidgety
Insatiable thirst, dehydration
Lowered resistance to common illnesses; colds, sore throat,

etc.

No social life, angry spouse or significant other, messy home,
weed-filled garden, dog does not recognize you.

LOL...

Emotional bliss
kick some ass in bike races
Chicks massage your legs (and other things)

Derk said:

Michael Fuhr said:

I take my heart rate every morning as soon as I awaken and before
I get out of bed; if it's more than 3-4 beats higher than the day
before then I usually ride short and easy, or perhaps even take the
day off.

I always thought it had to be about 10 bpm higher B4 slowing down, so I
never paid attention to a small increase of my heartrate.

The amount is probably individual, which is why it's important to
understand how your own body works. For me, a 10bpm difference
would be almost frightening, and I'd probably not ride at all that
day. Consider paying attention to smaller differences.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't think of recovery rides as something you're "forced" to do --
enjoy them as a time to relax and "take your bike for a walk," as
one of my friends puts it.

I know you're right about this, but I can't help myself: whenever I see
someone riding in front of me I automatically start riding faster..

Using other riders as motivation is sometimes appropriate, but not
always. A heart rate monitor, especially one with audible alarms
that sound if you go above or below a certain zone, can help you
tame the chase instinct. On my recovery rides, I always use the
audible alarms to keep my pace down. It's annoying when you have
to crawl up hills or into the wind, but your body will thank you.

Quoted message said:

There's also the feeling I haven't been training properly if I don't come
back exhausted.

Some rides should leave you feeling exhausted, but if *all* rides
leave you feeling that way then you're overdoing it. Those hard
rides make you stronger *if* you give your body a chance to recover
from them.

Quoted message said:

That doesn't help me either. I know it's important to rest,
but I don't seem to be able to do this (enough).

Work on it. And make sure you're eating properly -- do some searches
on sports nutrition. And get plenty of sleep.

Some trainers recommend dedicating every fourth week to recovery.
During that week, reduce your volume and intensity from what you
normally do, and maybe even take a few days off the bike entirely.
If you're overtrained, then you might need to dedicate several
weeks to recovery.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

what are you doing for those 2 hours each day?

First of all I ride 7 days/week. During these 2 hours I ride often at 90% of
my maximum and during these rides I do some interval training riding
against small hills and bridges.

You do this on every ride? I'd add at least a couple of easy rides
per week to give your body some rest; if you're feeling really tired
then it might be better not to ride at all that day.

What about longer rides at lower intensities? Don't underestimate
the value of long, slow distance. It helps prepare your body for
more intense efforts, and it can be a nice mental break from going
hard all the time.

--
Michael Fuhr
http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/

Derk said:

Michael Fuhr said:

I take my heart rate every morning as soon as I awaken and before
I get out of bed; if it's more than 3-4 beats higher than the day
before then I usually ride short and easy, or perhaps even take the
day off.

I always thought it had to be about 10 bpm higher B4 slowing down, so I
never paid attention to a small increase of my heartrate.

Quoted message said:

Pros are almost certainly in far better condition than you are

That's certain.

Quoted message said:

Don't think of recovery rides as something you're "forced" to do --
enjoy them as a time to relax and "take your bike for a walk," as
one of my friends puts it.

I know you're right about this, but I can't help myself: whenever I see
someone riding in front of me I automatically start riding faster..

There's also the feeling I haven't been training properly if I don't come
back exhausted. That doesn't help me either. I know it's important to rest,
but I don't seem to be able to do this (enough).

You little endorphin junkie, you.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Perhaps you need to add more easy rides to your regular schedule

I'm certain you're right about that.

Quoted message said:

what are you doing for those 2 hours each day?

First of all I ride 7 days/week. During these 2 hours I ride often at 90% of
my maximum and during these rides I do some interval training riding
against small hills and bridges.

If you must ride 7 days a week then one or two should be happy pedaling not
working harder than just making circles with your feet and doing some light
stretches.

Good luck and keep it fun.
Ron

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in addition to taking my heart rate every morning before I get out of
bed, I usually look at it when I put on my HRM as I'm getting ready to
ride. If it's higher than usual then that tells me I might need to take
it easy that day.

I'll start doing that too.

Greets, Derk

Booker C. Bense said:

The last time I told myself "Oh you're just having a bad day",
I ended up with walking pneumonia for 8 weeks.

Don't be too optimistic for me: you just say that to cheer me up,
don't you ? ;-)

Greets, Derk

Michael Fuhr said:

What about longer rides at lower intensities? Don't underestimate
the value of long, slow distance. It helps prepare your body for
more intense efforts, and it can be a nice mental break from going
hard all the time.

I'm doing that right now. I forgot to mention something that might explain
my overtraining too: while in France, I was stung twice by a hornet that
flew into my helmet. Apart from being extremely painful, it also caused
that I was treated with Prednisolon for a few days to avoid swelling of the
face. My body didn't like the Prednisolon very much. Maybe that had an
influence too?

Greets, Derk