The bottom line on how to speed recover from cycling over-training

Posted by tan xiao yan on

Some cyclists are likely to ride longer and harder to improve their fitness rapidly. They are eager to train to get faster and stronger without enough rest and recovery. However, when you are training up for a ride, it’s difficult to imagine there is such a bad thing as too much training. keep in mind that cycling over-training can backfire which is worse for your performance than under-training.

To put it simply, cycling over-training occurs in riders who train well beyond their body’s ability level to recover. Most of us feel it difficult to keep balance family commitments, a job, training and fit in other social activities. Pushing yourself is a good thing but moderation is the key to everything. If you have recently pushed yourself too hard or you are on the verge of over-training. You may want to know how to recover from it. Here are some signs of it and some tips to help you to prevent over-training being a hazard to your daily life.

Signs of cycling over-trainingcycling over-training

In fact, the signs of the over-training syndrome are difficult to define because there are too many and it varies from riders to riders. Generally speaking, Poor performance and fatigue are the most common signs but they can occur even if the rider is not over- trained. The followings are some signs that may develop into over-training.

1.Feel tired

Feeling tired may be the better indicator. Every rider experience fatigue because improving fitness requires physical stress. This is regarded as overreaching and is necessary for any training program. However, if you ignore the fatigue of overreaching and continues to ride with high stress without recovery and rest, then you will be likely to develop over-training quickly. For younger riders, this requires couples of weeks to appear such dedicated and exhaustive training. Older riders and beginners may occur over-training in fewer than 3 weeks. However, a rider can shed the fatigue of overreaching by resting or riding very easily for a few days and then return back to high-stress training. But once a rider suffers over- training, the rider can become listless, frumpy and tired easily, and the fatigue will not go away easily.

2.Keep getting sick or injuredsigns of cycling over-training: get sick or injured easily

Usually, because of lack of sleep, poor diet, not enough activity and mental stress, people will easily to get ill and it might due to over-training. Those hints are easily ignored by people but they actually tell you that there is something wrong with your immune system from your over-training. As Wyatt says, “ one of the biomarkers for over-training is a suppressed immune system’. if you suffer over- training, your immune system will start to falter. Over-training could make your body more difficult to ward off infections. Besides, overused muscles and joints can result in constant aches or joint pain. The pain which does not relieve in 2 weeks should be considered as a notable injury. Thus, frequent illness and injuries are signs as well.

3.Have a decreased appetite

Most of us who do a lot of workouts every day is generally a ravenous bunch. But if you suffer over- training, you may have a decreased appetite. If you are burning calories, you are supposed to be hungry. If you are not hungry, that could be a sign that you could be over-training because of the physiological exhaustion of OTS.

4.Have trouble sleepingsigns of cycling over-train: have trouble sleeping

Have trouble sleep even though you are wiping yourself out on the bike? It’s possible a result of a combination of the nervous system or hormonal system overload. If you pushing your body too hard, your nervous system can get over- stimulated by increasing levels of certain hormones. These hormones can increase the heart rate and blood pressure as well as stimulating energy breakdown and inhibit immune function then they can interfere with the production of hormones and proteins in the brain called neurotransmitters that help you achieve your quality sleep.

5.Feel depressed

Biking is typically a good exercise which is good for your mental health, however, if you are over-training, riding too much too hard could have the opposite effect. Generally speaking, people who are over-training are likely to view their work out as a challenge, a conquest or a space-filler. You may also suffer from “ body image issues” and believe “the more workout you do, the more strong you will get.” Then they are likely to live for punishing workouts and grueling competitions. However, the inability to train can significantly affect their psyche.they can lose motivation to do about everything and feel depressed.

6.Experience a sudden drop in performance

signs of cycling over-train: experience a sudden drop on cycling performance

One of the signs of over- training is a suddenly decreased performance, despite the increase in training intensity or distance. Decreased agility, strength and endurance are all common signs of over-training. A sudden drop in performance can be determined by your losing of grip strength. In fact, measuring grip strength is one of the most reliable ways to identify over-training. So using a gripper to regularly measure your grip strength is a good way to determine if you need to take a break from your bike. Remember that You should measure your grip strength in the afternoon because it’s harder to do in the morning.



Solutions

1.Prevent it from the first place

Of course, preventing over-training from the first place is always better than cure. To avoid over-training, what you need is not to ride easier in the gym but to break it up more. Yes, frequent recovery for a few days is important to prevent it. If you are riding very hard, then you just need to organize your sessions so that you don’t work the same muscles twice in a row. Besides, make sure you get plenty of rest and protein in between and take a week off every 4 to 6 weeks. Following this advice, you will get better returns from your ride training and avoid over-training.

2.Rest

Unluckily, if over-training has really taken hold, it can take you many months to make a full recovery. If you want to recover from over- training, then what you need to do is to rest more and train less, though it may not easy for you to stop training for a while. During the rest, you will find that you cause more growth in this cases. One way can help you recover from over- training is you simply take one week off. In fact, taking a week off anyway around every four to six weeks is highly recommended by bodybuilders. This way can help you to rebuild some of the torn muscle and get more needed energy. You will find that even if you don’t suffer over- training, just taking a week off can help you a lot to grow considerably and gain a lot of muscle.

3.Eat properly and get enough sleep

As I have mentioned before, pushing yourself too hard can result in over- training. However, the wrong diet and a lack of sleep can also play an important part. Eating properly arest to get speed recovery from over-trainingnd get enough sleep can help your body to repair your muscles. If your damage is purely muscular, then you can use amino acid supplements which are essentially protein in its purest form to give your system the best fighting chance of recovery. Other nutrients are also necessary for your recovery. Make sure to add some complex carbs into your diet because building muscle needs energy. Besides, consuming vitamins and minerals also play a role in building those muscles.

4.Start working out slowly

After a period of over- training, the last thing you require to do is to start working out slowly. Make sure you are fully recovered when you get back into your workout routine. You can engage in lighter workouts at first. As you make progress, then you can engage in harder workouts again. Make sure you get enough rest on your off days to give you body time to repair your muscles. Besides, you can consider some cross- training when you start to feel like you are over-trained. You can swim and do other aerobic exercises. Be sure you do your part to prevent over-training.

5.Listen to your body

All of us should listen to our body. If you are not tuned in, you are more likely get a chance of injury. Don’t ignore vital warning signs. Pay attention to the things that you feel different. For example, when you see a big change in your heart rate- either faster or slower while at rest, then it means you might need a break. As you get used to recognizing the signs of over-training, you will be able to change your training routine and avoid over-training.



Conclusion

Prevent yourself from over- training can be very easy. Always allow yourself to take a break and listen to your body. It’s when we rest that our body has time to recover, rebuild and return back stronger than before.