Need Advice on What To Do/So Fatigued

I’ve got a couple kids that don’t let me get good/deep/recoverative sleep. I’ve also got some other stressors going on with family. It’s definitely a rough time. Thing is biking used to help elevate my mood so much - but lately I think it may be exacerbating problems.

I was a guy who just always rode as hard as I could before I got some overuse knee/ankle problems June 2018. At that time my FTP was 230. I took some about a month off the bike and went and got a pro fit.

On top off all that - I figured if I’m going to take it easy on the bike for a while I might as well try a strength training plan. So jumped in on a 5/3/1 BBB for four months before my shoulders said no more.

I came back to the bike Aug 2018 and decided to do TR SSB Low Volume I using my pre-fit FTP. My body def did not like the fit at first. The fitter moved me way back - apparently my posterior glutes weren’t working very well. I’m slowly getting aclimated to it but yeah I had to drop the FTP number way down and even then wasn’t able to complete the block.

I’ve been taking it super easy the last couple months both in the weight room and on the bike. Recently though I’ve tried to do some sweet spot and my HR is freaking me out. Yesterday my heart rate rose up to 150 at only 160W. My max HR is around 170. I’m just wondering if I’m asking too much of my body.

Also noticing that if I do a ride over 2hr - I’m super worn out and impatient with my family. I did some body weight squats in the gym on Monday it took three days for my legs not to be sore.

It’s mid Feb - and I really want to try to be in a place where I can do some strong group rides by late May/June at my old FTP. I’m not sure if I should just totally shut down all exercise and rest for a couple months or if I could get away with sweet spot at a super low FTP.

Have you done a ramp test lately to know what your current ftp is. Basing your rides on an old ftp is pointless and likely demoralizing.
I’d do ramp test then just do 2-3 easy gentle rides (e.g. Petit) for couple weeks to get back into swing of it. Then SSB 1 LV and see how it goes.

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If it was me I would just go out and ride my bike without following any plans for a few months. Just enjoy it.

Then get a medical checkup. Plus maybe take some vitamins. I take a mens multi-vitamin and I’m sure this has helped me with a full time job plus training hard with TR.

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I agree with Nigel. Concentrate on your family right now and just fit in some fun riding when you can. Forget about your FTP. It is what it is. It flucuates with life.
Dare I say… if you’re like me and also pay for zwift every month this might be a great time to just ride around in zwift.
You’ll be back and highly motivated in the future when the timing is right. It is a great time to work on healthy eating though.

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Thanks for the advice everyone.

Thanks Nigel what mens vitamin do you take?

I agree 100% with this. Unless yuo’re a pro, don’t let the numbers or training get in he way of the joy of riding your bike!

Re mens multi vitamin. Healtheries Mens multi-vitamin. I’m in New Zealand. I have no idea whether this brand is available overseas. I also take a daily Vitamin C tablet as well but that’s just to help my immune system ward of colds.

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This has happened to me 2 years - I know your pain :frowning:

Honestly straight up time off is the best to reset. Also re-read your opening…why not move away from training and back to riding for a few weeks? Log off - don’t even use the garmin if you need too. It might help.

More practical advice:

  • Scale back at the gym - once every other week. Cyclist or weight lifter - pick one when the going gets tough
  • Make sure you have at least 2 full off days a week - no gym those off days (that not off)
  • try using HRV to monitor for this coming up. If you are in base/build and it says to chill, it is probably right.
  • nutrition and hydration make a difference. eat and sip better
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Sort of had some similar issues recently and been sick for a while also which you seem to have avoided. My ten cents for what they are worth:

  1. I have built up my strength in the weights room enormously and had tried to do double days with hard bike session and weights on the same day, as recommended on AACC. I don’t think I gave the weights nearly enough credit or respect for the massive fatigue they were inducing, and as a result I was taking on way too much stress those heavy days. As a result, I now treat a hard weights session as one of my hard workouts for the week, and plan that I have a max of 3 hard work outs per week. Doing 2 hard weight days plus 2 hard bike sessions each week is too much for me. Plus I try not to do the double weights/bike days and instead space them out. Was just too much for one day for me personally otherwise.

  2. Young kids interrupting sleep is a common one for me. Also had a few stressful months with family. Again, think I’ve been under appreciating the impact here. Recognising a bad night of sleep for what it is and reacting appropriately is something I am more focused on now. I also try to get weekend naps where possible.

  3. Nutrition becomes even more important during these stressful times. It’s crucial to fuel yourself to recover, especially with weight lifting. Personally I think I had some errors here that are easy to fix.

  4. My ftp dropped from 335 to 270 in a matter of weeks following illness at Xmas. You need to be real with this. It is what it is. Happily I’m hoping it will come back faster than otherwise since it dropped so fast. Due to the other cock-ups mentioned in this post, I never really recovered properly from the illness and so have had many weeks of low level sickness, which is unusual for me. I finally gave it 2 full weeks easing off to allow me to recover properly.

  5. I did do a medical check up just to check things out and was reassured that things looked normal so was just advised to rest it out.

  6. I have had poor fits in the past injure me on the first ride out and cause inflammation that took weeks to subside. Again, don’t underestimate the impact here. Ease into new fits. Thankfully not something that impacted me this time.

  7. I have bailed on group rides for the moment. They cut into my w-e sleep and did not help with the off bike stressors since they ate up too much time on weekends meaning I was rushing to do other stuff. Weather not been great either. So I have been keeping it indoors so I definitely do not overdo it.

Basically cut it back until you normalise, and be careful handling new bike fits! No shortcuts to recovery sadly. Good luck! You’ll bounce back.

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Yep I sympathise, when mine were small I just rode when I felt like it and forgot any idea of being competitive. I was also super busy at work at the time and no energy left to ride…good news is kids grow up v quick!

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I agree with this. I’m a triathlete and injured my left hip last July and was unable to run but was able to continue biking. I followed no plan and did a ton of outdoor rides and was able to build up my fitness while having some fun. When I did a ramp test in October, I found that my ftp had increased from ~250 to 264. I’m 60 and over the past couple years my ftp had been pretty much flat. I figured that I was just getting older and was doing well just keeping my ftp from dropping.

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