Overtraining and recovery

[ny biker]

This is a good article.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...alth&seid=auto

"You should feel tired, said John Raglin, a sports psychologist at Indiana University. But if you do too much with too little rest, your performance gets worse, not better."

[sempronialou]

Great article, thanks for posing it! It's great reminder to allow myself those recovery days and know when it's okay to push.

[tealtreak]

Thanks- struggle with this balance constantly...........

[maillotpois]

This is a great article. Touches on some of the real life balance type themes being discussed in the weight management thread.

[marni]

I guess the fact that I skipped life on friday and stayed in bed all day except for emerging to eat some soup, take the dogs for a short walk and cook dinner (ie reheat left overs) was a hint that I needed a rest day. I hadn't been noticing any tiredness or soreeness during the week but there has been a lot of stress connected with dealing with the my FIL's death so.......it seems like the day off was needed and heeded.

marni

[rubysoho]

Thanks!

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for sharing the link NY biker! It definitely was a good reminder!

Over the years, I have learned that it isn't "overtraining " that I'm feeling; it's not "recovering" enough. On some weeks, that one or possible two easy days isn't quite enough... regardless of how many equations scientifically we come up with, unfortuantely there isn't one for the "life' part of our routines and one I suppose that we all have/are learning to deal with.


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[Veronica]

I've learned that by Thursday I need another hour of sleep and a yoga session in the morning, not a bike trainer session. I write out my weekly schedule on Saturdays and it took me awhile to see the trend of bike crossed out and yoga written in.

Veronica

[maillotpois]

Over the years, I have learned that it isn't "overtraining " that I'm feeling; it's not "recovering" enough. On some weeks, that one or possible two easy days isn't quite enough... regardless of how many equations scientifically we come up with, unfortuantely there isn't one for the "life' part of our routines and one I suppose that we all have/are learning to deal with.

Right - agree with this. Arnie Baker once said that it's next to impossible for anyone who isn't paid to ride their bike (or whatever your exercise is) to become technically "overtrained". So really it is a lack of recovery.

I had two months recovery last year after a big year of riding, and it helped tremendously - mentally and physically. I continued to ride regularly, but all in a lower zone. (I also cut out most starches for that period of time to compensate for not burning them in exercise - that balance was key to figure out for me.)

[Catrin]

Thank you for posting the link, and I shared it on my FB page with my "cycling" list. This describes exactly how I developed all of those over-use injuries in 2010...

[OakLeaf]

The theory is easy, it's the practice that's hard...

Like most things, you don't really know where the line is until you've gone over it. And unlike many things (running out of traction, just to pick a random example ), you may not know which line you're over. Too heavy a training load? Not enough protein? Not enough sleep? Emotional factors?

And as Catrin found - once you're over the line, it's not necessarily a simple thing to step back to the other side.

I'm experimenting with a lighter training load right at the moment, but I honestly don't know if it's the right thing to do or not. More protein definitely feels right, though.

[Miranda]

Great article. Thanks for sharing!