This year has been going really well so far. I’ve hit my workouts well, had some all time power PRs, my FTP is nearly at my best ever but I’m running out of mental steam and want to poll the forum hive mind as the best way to refresh myself and get back on track. I don’t really have any goals or events to aim for, just training for fun, fitness and the odd Zwift race here and there. 100% of my riding is indoors now because life doesn’t allow otherwise. For a potted recent history:
Dec-Feb, went through a build and specialty cycle after Christmas, came off this feeling good
Ending this timed nicely with Zwift Games so I created myself a racing block for 6 weeks with most events as C races, a couple of workouts a week, and picked out an A and B event to focus on. This went really well and I hit all time power PRs all over the place and was generally very satisfied with how it went
End of March - took a recovery week
Start of April, went back into base for a new BBS cycle. I’m now on week 3 of base and I just don’t have the mental “spoons” for the hard efforts being prescribed. I’m feeling tired and not motivated to train. Non-cycling stress is high too and I’m generally feeling a bit burned out which isn’t helping.
For context, training load is 3-4 hours per week so this isn’t physical overtraining. I’m too time constrained for that!
What would you do to turn this mental state around? I’m tempted by a week or two off but the impact on my predicted FTP depresses me . I also still generally enjoy getting on the bike, I just don’t have the mental energy to dig deep workout after workout. Any thoughts appreciated!
It varies, but it seems about once a year I get burned out. Coincidentally, this time started a week ago. Things had been going well. I was doing a lot of riding and made some good upgrades to the bikes and shop area. Then, out of the blue, I started out on a fairly tough mtb ride and instead of looking forward to the challenges, I dreaded them. Maybe dread is too strong a word, but I just wasn’t motivated at all. It usually takes me two to four weeks before I start missing it and want to ride again. Right now, I have some projects around the house and yard so those are taking my attention.
YMMV, but I can’t train without a goal. So pick a goal to work towards no matter what it is (race, KOM, Fondo, cycling vacation, new bike, etc). Take a break 1-2 weeks then set your goal months out. Allow yourself to build slowly towards this goal.
Just do some fun outdoor riding for a little while. I was in a similar boat after a long winter on the east coast. I’ve been doing unstructured MTB rides outdoors for the last 3 weeks and it’s been glorious.
Seems like this is going around right now, a lot of people burned out. I wonder if this is a symptom of everyone’s rising obsession with keeping their FTP prediction high.
You probably didn’t see it so I’m just reposting something I wrote in a similar thread to someone else. Read below…
Buddy I hear ya. I’ve been doing great here on TR and loving the progress I’m making and it’s all fireworks and confetti really. Then I just sort of crashed with motivation and just COULD NOT BE BOTHERED with my Threshold workout on Saturday. Heart was just not in it and couldn’t finish. Skipped Sunday’s endurance. Took Monday off as usual. Then, my paused Zwift membership auto-renewed (they always getcha that way!) and I thought to heck with Tuesday’s scheduled workout I’m gonna just have a free ride ramble. Yes, I ended up bombing up Alpe de Zwift and setting a power PR but it was FUN. No structure for a change. It was fun to take these new FTP gains for a spin
I have found for me that I can’t stay perpetually focused on FORWARD MOTION all the time. Sometimes I have to just take my gains and use them for a while. Maybe drop a few FTP points, maybe put a pound or two on, but just give myself a little wiggle room. It’s kind of a psychological necessity. It’s the macro rest. Physical rest between workouts but also psychological rest between training blocks. It really works for me.
My calendar will adjust and I’ll get back at it. I won’t hit the AI FTP prediction I got last week for May and THAT IS OK! That FTP number will still be there when I decide to get back after it.
So don’t beat yourself up, just enjoy to break. Your fitness is still there, don’t feel like you need to chase it. Take some time for yourself and just enjoy your bike–or not being anywhere near your bike! You’ll be back and you’ll be better for it
I’m the type that driven by goals. I only participate in a couple of events a year and those tend to keep my mind sharp throughout the training blocks. Of course there are times where I’m feeling a bit down and fatigued, but that’s usually tied to poor nutrition, particularly during z2 rides, that leaves me feeling empty and unmotivated.
So I would review nutrition on and off the bike and set a goal if I were in your situation. Good luck! You’ll make it out the other end zoooomin’.
I feel like I’m kind of in the same boat as you. I still enjoy riding my bike, and I actually still enjoy doing structured workouts, but I’m losing the mental fortitude to continuously dig deep for a Very Hard workout. For me right now it just doesn’t feel worth the effort to bury myself that much to maybe add 1 watt to my FTP. A while back I changed my Threshold Training Approach from Balanced to Moderate hoping to avoid getting workouts that were Very Hard. It seems to have worked a little, but some of them still feel harder than I want right now. My A event is in July and I would actually be fine with the fitness I have right now for that event. I’m curious what people think is the best way to tell the AI to dial it back a bit. Should I adjust my Training Approach more? Just select easier alternates on days I don’t feel like pushing so hard?
I came here to post this exact feeling. I’m in Chicago, I’ve been indoors on the trainer since the end of October, and I was about to post “am I actually fatigued or am I just literally sick of being on the trainer??”. I think I’m just sick of the trainer. I had a sweet spot workout today, I totally could have finished it, had a movie on, etc, and I was just like “f** this” and stopped. Now the challenge is how to keep my fitness because I’ve built up a decent amount over the winter. Interested to hear how other people manage indoor trainer fatigue. Additionally - I live in a heavy traffic area, getting intervals done outside can be a challenge.
I could’ve written many of the previous posts. Minneapolis area here, basically the same boat. So tired of the trainer… but weather and family obligations mean I’ve only been riding outside once so far this year.
Short answer: you need to ride a bike. What you are doing isnt.
Long answer:
If anything, just watch a good show( documentary/ youtube, movies you really want to see or series your family wont watch with you) and do more indoor biking without the intervals. Just let the bike control erg mode. Good content is key. What is good content is different for everyone. mix it up where you cant see any numbers and are just riding and watching something interesting. zwift is not the answer.
Prescription:
Outdoor rides for sanity
Z2 sessions with no data and a Show
Sign up for a race or big fun event so you have something you are actually working towards.
A lot of folks chiming in about burnout in April. This is one of the reasons I’m always surprised when people post about how they prefer riding the trainer to riding outside. When I’m burnt out, I go for soul rides.
I am also sick of “Very Hard” and “Max Effort” rides. I’ve been working on getting the AI to lower my FTP for weeks now. I firmly believe that this new system can be absolutely amazing if it gets my FTP to something where I’m not suffering and frustrated with workouts that are too hard twice a week. Today was a perfect SS ride, so I’m optimistic that it’s finally catching on and my Saturday TH ride will be perfect too.
The body cannot discriminate types of stress… physical stress from training is no different than environmental or emotional and when life gets hectic training is impacted. The most ideal thing is to reduce your life stress (but lets be real…that isn’t always immediately possible). Because exercise is good for you and can be stress reducing I am not a fan of removing it from your daily routine compeltely. But you can adjust as needed… maybe it is removing all hard workouts, or substituting in some walks on recovery days, or unplugging and driving out of town for an outdoor ride.
I don’t know your situation but as many mentioned above it could be just indoor burnout from the winter months. After my last break I took a couple weeks and just did 30-45 minute rides. It was fun to just rip hard for 30 minutes and be done with it. It was great to mix it up!
But it sounds like outside riding just isn’t possible right now… Can you mix in running, weight lifting, or another activity to get a mental break from the indoor pain cave?
I was thinking the same and that’s why I asked about fueling. I know that when I’m not eating enough (on or off the bike), it gets me down fast. Add in some life stress, maybe some poor sleep, and both mentally and physically, I just feel worn out all the time. I spend days wondering what is off before I realize it’s just everything adding up to make life exhausting. I’ve had to relearn this lesson more often than I’d like to admit.
I’m not. I’m doing them and failing or marking them much harder than the AI predicted (which is how they feel). I gave up on trying to slowly teach it and I’ve decided to just go nuclear.
I’d say take time off from training. Not necessarily off the bike but just completely unstructured without any sort of plan. Just ride for fun. Don’t even take your Garmin, or hide it at the very least. Be a kid. Ride in some mud and get dirty. Hit some sweet jumps. If you have to take time off the bike to mentally separate yourself from training then do that. But times like this I just stop training and go ride for fun. I grab my gravel bike and just get lost in the woods in nature. Listen to the sounds of wild animals and crunchy gravel. No KOMs, no TSS, no power. Just ride.
. I also still generally enjoy getting on the bike, I just don’t have the mental energy to dig deep workout after workout. Any thoughts appreciated!
