I am looking for some tips on how to recover from overtraining / experiences with this topic. Recently I ramped volume quite a lot (but with no intensity) and trained myself into a hole that has seemed impossible to come out of. Having tracked all calories, carbs & weight I am 100% sure I have not underate doing this.
My symptoms are as follows:
Heart rate not coming down after even zone 2 / endurance workouts, and can stay high for hours upon hours after training. Normally it would return to the 60’s quite fast, but now it seems to drop a lot initially and then go up to 80/90 again.
Insomnia.
HRV goes down also after 60 minute zone 2 workouts, with 15-20 pints. Same with RHR going up with 5-8 beats.
RHR throughout the day is uncontrollable, and just lives its own life.
Performance have not dropped per say, and once I do a workout I feel decent. I still have motivation to train.
But what should I do for recovery? It is so hard to find anything online about this, as there is not really anyone in my country who have put the ‘recovery cocktail’ out there?
Right now I do strength train and walk 60 minutes on the treadmill at max 55% HR, and it seems like my HRV responds well to this but still I am nowhere near where I was before.
On the other hand
Back in november I got hit with a massive flu, we are talking high fever and all of it - When I could train again I almost only did zone 1 training, but lots of it. I am wondering if my symtpoms is because I have detrained - just doesnt corrolate with my performance being decent.
From my test the only thing that seemed a bit high was a TSH of 3.2 but according to chatGPT and what I could find there shouldnt be any issues related to this.
It sounds like your nervous system is stuck in a sympathetic state, which explains why your RHR stays so high even after Zone 2. It is interesting to see how this level of recovery tracking is now being integrated into corporate wellness software https://betterme.world/articles/corporate-wellness-software/ to help people manage physical and mental loads more effectively. True progress is only possible when the body is given the actual space to adapt and rebuild. Disciplined rest is just as important as the training itself to prevent long-term burnout.
Thanks! I have already reduced volume a lot, but its like I cant recover at all after training sessions. You know, no clear patterns of HR recovery etc.
Do you have any suggestions what to test for? I am lucky to have a private health clinic linked up with my work.
You sure your HR/HRV sensors are good? (I wouldn’t trust a wrist sensor at all for HRV or during activity, I’ve known them to get worse even at rest as the watch gets older, and chest straps do need new batteries from time to time, and also just wear out depending on how corrosive your sweat is.).
I would say it feels pretty reliable also with how I feel - HR is way way higher than it used to, and has this weird sensation where is initially drops hard after workouts, then slowly rises again (flight or fight mode). And then just doesnt drop before long long after.
I’ve had something similar happen to me. One of the symptoms was getting lightheaded or weak during rides, even easy rides, despite fueling / not fueling, hydration, etc. Sleep was horrible, I had anxiety all the time, caffeine made things worse, rides might temporarily make things better but end up feeling worse later in the day. I would have some days where I actually rode pretty well, which was confusing, but other times were just awful. I ended up quitting caffeine, eating more food, focusing on consistent sleep, and took several weeks off the bike. That seemed to reset my system and I actually came back stronger and had the best racing of the year a couple of months later.
I honestly think my problem was a combination of not enough rest, not enough food, too much caffeine, and not allowing myself to recover from the training that had piled up. Hopefully a few weeks rest is all you need!
Edit: The fact that you say you are tracking everything that you are eating is a sign that you possibly are actually undereating, as calculators don’t really know how well you are using the food you are eating. Take a few weeks off from tracking and just eat until you’re full. Prioritize quality. Go to bed early, stay hydrated, skip the caffeine if possible or limit it, and DO NOT go back to training immediately if you feel good within a few days. If you’ve been overtrained for weeks or months you most likely need more than a few days to fix it.
I didn’t do anything except the normal day to day stuff. I didn’t do anything extra either though. IE, don’t start a project at the house, didnt travel multiple time zones, decide to do 12 hours of yard work, etc. Hope that helps and good luck!
