Recovery

Adam-r

Adam-r

Adam-r

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Joined
20 Mar 2015
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434
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As the title suggests, what are you guys and gals using/doing for recovery?

I used to play Squash quite a lot and I could play once or five times a week and I’d be in a dreadful state the next day. Not so much with tired legs but in my head, really fatigued. I’m finding the same with cycling. I really started upping the mileage last year and lost a load of weight and got stronger however, no matter if I do a 60 mile club run, a one hour turbo session or a 160 mile epic, the next day I’ll feel the same - totally destroyed, wondering how I’ll stay awake at work etc. I have friends who can just carry on as normal.

Anyone have any tips?
 
Get adequate sleep/nap occasionally.
Stretch & work on mobility.
Lower the intensity of your rides.
Use a higher cadence.
Maintain calorie balance.
Fuel properly during your rides.
 
As soon as you have finished working out make sure you drink a lot of water and/or sports drinks, and also eat a lot of mainly carbs (little protein). Carbs is especialyl important to recovery, you may end up totally glycogen completed. Also carbs stimulate muscle repair.

Don't sit at a desk all day after a workout. get up and walk around regularly.

Get plenty of sleep. I try and get at least 8 hours while training, and after a particularly hard workout go for 9 or 10 even.

Good meals throughout the day, and don;t be afraid to snack on fruit/veg/nuts. hard training means you have to eat well. If weightless is your goal then you need to reduce training. At peak training I gain weight , even running 100 miles a week). At inter-training blocks I can loose weight at 50-60 miles a week. Don;t try and loose weight if pushing fitness goals.

Don't drink too much alcohol after a heavy workout. As fun as a beer or 2 is after 100 miles in the saddle (20 miels on foot), more than a couple will likely be detrimental. I cut back alcohol massively in peak training.

rest days are needed. Cumulative fatigue will build up.

Don;t push further than your limits. 2 moderate workouts will be more effective than something that leaves you crawling the next day. There is a hard workout, and then there is being stupid and causing massive recovery. Save the insane efforts for race day


Training should include a lot of easy zone 2 work. If everything is high intensity you will be over training.
 
Thanks for the input. As for cumulative load, there may be something in that. I do try and space my training however I am aiming to hit a certain TSS per week. I'm usually doing 75-95% FTP for the majority of my turbo miles. I would have thought that if it was a lack of fitness then I'd have seen it improve over the years, my level of fatigue after exercise remains on the wrong side of 'mega tired' :-D

I'll report back as I make the changes.
 
I went to the GP to rule out anything more sinister and they reckon it could be electrolyte losses. Will know more after they have checked blood etc. So far, eating/drinking more hasn't really improved anything but I feel like I'm already pretty fatigued, so trying to catch up. At the moment I'm just concentrating on Zone 2 training riding to a TSS of 60 per session.
 
I'd look at the quality of your sleep tbh. Just because you are asleep, doesn't mean you're getting the adequate downtime your brain needs.

You mention exercise not particularly affecting you physically but rather feeling that cognitively you're knackered.

Consider the sodium concentration of your perspiration too and your overall fluid intake, if you do believe it to be to an imbalance.

From a hydration perspective it's worth very lightly salting (literally a few flakes/grains) the water you drink to enhance uptake at a cellular level.
 
BennyC said:
I'd look at the quality of your sleep tbh. Just because you are asleep, doesn't mean you're getting the adequate downtime your brain needs.

You mention exercise not particularly affecting you physically but rather feeling that cognitively you're knackered.

From a hydration perspective it's worth very lightly salting (literally a few flakes/grains) the water you drink to enhance uptake at a cellular level.
Click to expand...

The old sodium-potassium pump - I'll add to some pre and post ride drinks and see what happens.

As for sleep - I've tried with less than 8 and it's a no go. 8 minimum for me (maybe I need 9) Kudos to those that can function on less..
 
Adam-r said:
The old sodium-potassium pump - I'll add to some pre and post ride drinks and see what happens.

As for sleep - I've tried with less than 8 and it's a no go. 8 minimum for me (maybe I need 9) Kudos to those that can function on less..
Click to expand...

I think you're missing the point, that you may not be sleeping deeply enough. REM/Non-REM.
 
I did a ride on monday and accumulated a TSS of 83. I ate immediately after, carbs and high quality protein, plenty of water and went to bed early. I was so fatigued the day after (yesterday) I had to call in sick for the first hour and now I'm honestly considering only training on a fri/sat so I have some extra recovery time :-( as I can't be feeling the way I do at work. I can still feel the effects of a 65 min session from monday. I'm hoping that blood tests show something.
 
Update:

Blood tests came back largely normal with only slightly low Vit D levels which I'm sure most people have this time of year.

The next set of bloods are going to test for low cortisol and glandular fever.

I've been training with power for a while now so know that the sessions I'm doing shouldn't be leaving me in the state I find myself. My weekly TSS is still quite modest really.
 
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