Overtraining?--Help

[Turd Ferguson]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone has ever been in worse shape at the end of the season(not because of couch time). It happened to me two years ago and still haunts me. At first I discovered I was not getting enough sleep(4-5 hours-stressful marrige that ended in happy divorce), but I am still plagued to this day. My recovery time is crap. I am starting to worry because it's even affecting my snowboarding.

Thanks

[Heidi]

I've always corrected the problem during the season and altered my training plan. Are you saying you are feeling effects of overtraining from two years ago? This seems odd. Are you still doing a lot of riding? Could there be another problem...like your diet, or stress?

[Turd Ferguson]

I don't know if it was overtraining but I hoped this would go away with the new season. Stress levels are good and I get decent sleep. Diet is o.k., but it could be better. No worse than previous years. My time in the saddle has decreased due to a change in interest(street riding and downhilling) and due to the dissappointment of poor performance. I am working out and snowboarding this winter for off-season fitness. I plan to hit it hard pre-season with alot of x/c like I did last season.

[Kanter]

I plan on a lot of XC this year, yes with the FLY. Be prepared because I have some awesome XC to show you in Missoula. I guarantee you will be in better shape this year than last.

They need more info. Explain what you mean by worse shape and how you feel. You didn't mention age either. I know you dont think its a factor but it is. Maybe you dont want to admit it but it IS a factor. I felt it with my sprained ankle. It still hurts a lot and its been over 2 months. If I was 20 it would have healed a lot faster.

Help my bro out here guys. Maybe there is more to it. Have you seen a Doc. Maybe you need to talk to a Doc and have them run some tests. A blood test could tell a lot. You have insurance, go to the Dr. if you really think there is a problem. Not to scare you but go get checked out.

[The Toninator]

Sleep. i went through a long peroid of over training and feeling crappy. I'd have my eye's closed for long peroids of time but i wasnt really sleeping the whole night. I'm a light sleeper to begin with but heavy periods of training incresse my restlessness.

[Kanter]

I completely agree. Sleep is a key for training.

[onetime]

If you have ruled out other health concerns, I would say its exhaustion. I started ridding about 10 years ago, and was also partying ALLOT and getting my business off the ground. I would push through my exhaustion and keep working and ridding hard, until I got so tired that I couldn't sleep at nights and frequently had a bad cold. I was only around 20 and didn't even think it could be from exhaustion, we all know people who burn the candle at both ends. I let up allot, but not totally, and after long periods off the bike recovering I would just jump back in at full capacity, instead of working back up to my previous fitness level. This would, and still does to this day, send me right back to feeling awful and getting sick. I have had all kinds of tests, and am the picture of health. My life now is not even that stressful, it's just from me doing more than my body can handle. I've found that if I want to train and ride allot, I just have to get more sleep, like 10 hours a night. It sound like an awful lot, but you can't compare yourself to other people, you've just got to learn what works for you.
Experiencing chronic fatigue after a prolonged period of overtraining and stress is not unheard of, nor is it a new phenomenon. Many soldiers coming back from wars like WW1 and 2 were stricken with the same lingering fatigue, the illness was called soldiers heart.
If I could give any advice from my experiences, it would be to eat well, stop drinking if you do, take some time away from exertion, and ease back in slowly. Above all get plenty of rest. Really, if you're tired don't ride.
Hope my response hasn't been to long winded, and that i've been helpful. If you want to talk further, PM me. ---Hillary

[Turd Ferguson]

Thanks for all the good advise from everyone. I think my problem is lack of sleep. I'm starting a training log and I am going to record sleep hours. I'm sure the post about getting 10 hours is right on. Some people need more sleep than those superhuman Kanters :monkey:

[Kanter]

Ha ha. I have actually been sleeping more than 4-5 hours a night now. :) I have been trying to get 8-10 hrs and I feel lots better. Once I got use to sleeping more hours, I can actually sleep through the night. I dont wake up every hour.

get more sleep...... I know you stay up late and get up early. Start getting 8-10 hours and I bet you'll feel better.

Hey wanna go sking on Sat or Sun?

[Turd Ferguson]

Ha ha. I have actually been sleeping more than 4-5 hours a night now. :) I have been trying to get 8-10 hrs and I feel lots better. Once I got use to sleeping more hours, I can actually sleep through the night. I dont wake up every hour.

get more sleep...... I know you stay up late and get up early. Start getting 8-10 hours and I bet you'll feel better.

Hey wanna go sking on Sat or Sun?
I'll be up both days. Just let me know.