FTP after illness

I have been down with a flu for the past 1 month. I have been pushing through for most of the Build phase until 1 of the week where i was basically coughing till i couldn’t breath if i ride above threshold.

I went to the doc again and got a xray. Luckily everything was fine but i was still coughing badly.

Eventually, i had to skip 1 week of workout. I just got back to the bike a few days ago and i still have problem pushing power above threshold where my airway will just close up on me.

I am switching to sweet spot workouts for now till i get better.

I did a 15x3 SS yesterday and my hr went higher than usual. Not sure whether its fatigue, sickness or general drop in fitness.

So i am adjusting my ftp down from 260 to 245 thereabouts. Am i being impatient with my recovery? Or the loss is due to fitness?

Take week and do some nice easy pettit-like workouts. Smashing yourself while you’re sick or recovering isn’t great, and may just drag things out. With a week entirely off the bike, all the better to ease back into it. You should then be able to pick up where you left off (assuming any of the earlier hard workouts during your sickness were actually helping your fitness). And really, dropping your FTP and doing SS isn’t that much different than just leaving your FTP alone and doing pettit.

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+1

It’s one thing pushing on with training when you’ve got a bit of a cold. When it’s been a month and you’ve still not recovered you’re clearly overdoing it (and/or there is a more serious underlying problem that tests haven’t picked up yet), and you need to take a proper break and let your body recovery. Rest days or easy workouts only until you feel back to normal.

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+2

Training when you’re sick enough to see a doctor can be counter productive. You’re body is trying to fight sickness, and you’re distracting it with muscle damage.

Eat well, sleep well, when your body wants to train do short recovery or endurance rides. If they feel hard, turn down the intensity rather than guessing a new FTP.

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Plenty of Baxter or minus variants and a ramp test when you come out the other side.

It can take a long long time to recover fully from a true flu (months potentially) so listen to your body and don’t worry about the work. Anything you lose will come back quickly when your body is ready for it

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I had to take six complete weeks off of the bike recovering from surgery. Right when I got back on I had a respiratory infection so getting back into the swing of things was tough.

I took it easy for the next few weeks gradually building up intensity. I feel now like I am just as strong as when I left off from surgery in February. Just be patient and good things will come.

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I agree with the comments above. Having had some lymph glands removed, I was back on the bike two weeks later doing what I was doing prior to surgery. What a plonker!! Couldn’t finish workouts and got ill. Patience is a virtue! Take it easy and build slowly.

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i want to thank all everyone who told me to take it easy. i went back to my doc again and went back on the trainer with mostly Baxter workouts for almost a week.

Felt my legs got stronger as the end of the week approached and the last session of the week was a 2.5hr one. Took the next 2 days off as the next build phase was on the following week.

Got on my trainer today for the ramp test and was really dreading it. I never could really paced myself well and i think mentally i psyched myself out.

Took it steady and decided not to look at the ipad while testing. When my legs finally cracked, i got an FTP jump! Although it was only a few watts but it was really unexpected. No idea whether the future sessions will wreck me or not but today was definitely a great one!

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