Which effort makes overtraining most apparent?

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jockster
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by jockster

I had a bit of a thought today on the symptoms of overtraining. Where would the increase of RPE be most apparent?

Should all efforts feel equally harder to complete or can the symptoms be biased towards efforts at/and/or above FTP?

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devinci
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by devinci

If overtrained, you would feel quite crappy at pretty much all effort levels and would have other signs of overtraining: appetite, sleep, sex drive, mood, etc.

I dont think you can standardise signs of overtraining VS effort levels. Overtraining is very complexe and it's not been understood quite well just yet.

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jockster
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by jockster

No need to quote above

Thank you. Lately doing 2x20's at FTP feels like my insides are turning out and not getting enough air, but doing sweetspot at ~90% of FTP feels great along. Maybe I just have an infection.

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devinci
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by devinci

it could be lots of things: accumulated fatigue, general stress, over reaching in training, FTP set too high, etc, etc.

are you testing regularly? What sort of load have you been doing lately? Maybe back it off a few days and see what happens?

jockster
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by jockster

Yep. Done my testing regularly and had a slow but steady increase in FTP until three weeks ago. Took a rest week and allowed my ATL drop below CTL.

First week following rest week, I did a handful of SST efforts which all felt good. The following (this) week I thought I would add a 2x20 @ FTP, but no - missing some good 20 watts and was completely drained after the first interval and had to roll home.

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WMW
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by WMW

"Overtraining" basically means that your body is not responding positively to the work load. It's a syndrome. The causes and symptoms can be all over the place.

Based on what you described, I'd guess you need some more easy time. At least that would be true if it was me. Try at least 3 more days in a row super easy (as in 1hr <50% FTP) or off the bike entirely, and see what happens. If that isn't enough, then rest more. Get plenty of sleep, eat good food, stretch and relax. Don't worry about your CTL and ATL numbers. When you really *feel* hungry for the bike again you are probably good to go.
formerly rruff...

jockster
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by jockster

@WMW
Thank you. I try to take one day a weekly off the bike along with one day weekly doing Z1 for an hour, so rest feels more than sufficient. A visit to the doctor did however confirm that I most certainly have had an infection that my body has been taking care of.

If anybody else has an idea of where you would be most likely to notice power drops when overtraining/overreaching, feel free to post!

taina
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by taina

If I wake up with cramps in my calves, should I skip a day, or should I go longer and harder? What if my legs start feeling sore a few hours after a ride? I expect this question has been thoroughly answered somewhere.
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devinci
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by devinci

it certainly does'nt mean you should go harder or longer...

ultyguy
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by ultyguy

It means that your body isn't coping well with some part of what you're doing. Now that could mean anything from the actual load you're doing or it could be your position that's not working right for your body.

As for efforts that show overtraining....I can often times nail out a 5 minute effort that's extremely strong when I'm overtired, but the moment I move towards a more FTP-style effort (20 min) my body says 'no' and won't keep the power and/or the heartrate up.

jockster
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by jockster

ultyguy wrote:As for efforts that show overtraining....I can often times nail out a 5 minute effort that's extremely strong when I'm overtired, but the moment I move towards a more FTP-style effort (20 min) my body says 'no' and won't keep the power and/or the heartrate up.


That sounds like me. Nailed half a dozen of new personal bests up to 5min just found it incredible hard to work at/around FTP. More rest to come!

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devinci
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by devinci

Maybe re-test your FTP

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Brian1946
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by Brian1946

There's a distinction to be made between over reaching and over training. The former is reportedly short lived whilst the latter is a life changer!

There is a school of thought that it's quite difficult for amateurs to get to the over training position, it's more often the over reaching.

For what it's worth, on the rare occasions I've over reached, almost everything above recovery pace is difficult to sustain. Endurance, can't face the duration and probably couldn't do it anyway, tempo and SST can't hold the HR, threshold no way, HR just won't go near and legs won't push. Re-test my FTP? I've tried, about three-five minutes in and it's no go, I wouldn't complete the test and if I did the results would be worthless!

A few days off/easy riding and I'm back.

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