so, i overtrained

[picaresque]

after four months of crappy performance, sickness and eventual time off the bike, i've officially been diagnosed as "overtrained".

anyone have any advice on how to come back from this?

[benzilla]

How long have you been resting for? i.e off the bike.

Depending on how over trained you are, the longer you'll need for recovery. Joel Friel has some good blogs on overtraining if you do a google search.

[picaresque]

How long have you been resting for? i.e off the bike.

one month off the bike. tiny amounts of training in the last two weeks.

thanks for the friel tip. i'll check it.

[fredrikw]

What did the person who officially diagnosed you as overtrained had to say about this?

[the crazyest vegan]

Yup I did this last year, trained way to hard, too much too fast. My doctor just said I hadn't recovere'd properly from a virus I had over the winter. It's very hard to pin it down as overtraining without a LOT of research into your past few months etc etc.
I just increased the amount of food I was eating a bit, made it a bit more healthy, ate lot's of beetroot and kale (for the Iron)
I also made sure if I wanted some cake, I had some cake, maybe two peices, have it if you want it, this was helpfull for me to dispell the "training" from my cycling, instead I started to ride my bike because I loved it, no goals, no average speed or HR to maintain, just having some fun! and when I was fit enough, started to race again. But dont start training or it'll f*ck you up again man...

[picaresque]

What did the person who officially diagnosed you as overtrained had to say about this?

to scale it back, do about half of what was on the program - which, incidentally, was already significantly reduced. it certainly sucks. goals for this season are out the window, goals for next season are in question. now that stings.

from what i understand, though, overtraining is a problem of recovery - ie, there's not enough of it. anyone wanna share their recovery tips?

[Mr. Cleetus]

It's hard to really give any particularly useful tips w/o much info.

Are you making sure to get enough sleep? more than you might normally?

What are you stress levels like?

-- don't over look the importance of those two things. Quickest way to drive yourself into a hole is to keep pushing your training when the rest of your life is already stressing your body. One month off the bike should be plenty unless there are other factors. I guess you've had blood tests done and visited a doc to rule out other factors?

[picaresque]

It's hard to really give any particularly useful tips w/o much info.

Are you making sure to get enough sleep? more than you might normally?

What are you stress levels like?

-- don't over look the importance of those two things. Quickest way to drive yourself into a hole is to keep pushing your training when the rest of your life is already stressing your body. One month off the bike should be plenty unless there are other factors. I guess you've had blood tests done and visited a doc to rule out other factors?

true on all counts. i've been to the doctor and had all my levels checked. iron was on the low side, as was Co-enzyme q10, so i've started supplementing both.

and, with directions from a fatigue specialist, i've started charting mood and wellbeing, as well as training adaptation.

i wasn't stressed at all until this overtraining stuff kicked in and i started falling off the back in easy races...

[JohnBarleycorn]

It's hard to really give any particularly useful tips w/o much info.

Are you making sure to get enough sleep? more than you might normally?

What are you stress levels like?

-- don't over look the importance of those two things. Quickest way to drive yourself into a hole is to keep pushing your training when the rest of your life is already stressing your body. One month off the bike should be plenty unless there are other factors. I guess you've had blood tests done and visited a doc to rule out other factors?

Spot on !

I can handle massive amounts of training. But if I have stress in my life, suddenly it all falls apart. You can't underestimate the effects of stress, either psychological or emotional. I'm 40 watts down on power, if I am really stressed. And my recovery is terrible.

Overtraining can take months to get over. Best thing to do is forget about training and make no plans to resume. I know thats not easy, and I know cyclists love to train. But you have to let it all go. Maybe ride the bike once or twice a week, just for fun. Wait until you feel strong again before you make any plans.

Been there, done it, lost possibly the best season of my life.

[picaresque]

Been there, done it, lost possibly the best season of my life.

yeah, that's what i'm trying to avoid alright. thanks for the advice.