think I may not have explained the severity of what I’m experiencing very well.
When I say “fatigue,” I’m not referring to normal training fatigue or simply having heavy legs.
I can often still complete the prescribed workouts. The issue is that, at times, I can feel profoundly tired outside of training—to the point where I’m not functioning at 100% at work or I may need to spend much of a weekend day lying on the couch recovering.
I’ve had a comprehensive medical evaluation and blood work, which didn’t identify any obvious explanation.
So the question I’m trying to answer isn’t really “How should I rate the workout?” anymore. It’s more, “How do I structure training so that I can continue to improve fitness without this level of impact on the rest of my life?”
I’m curious whether others have experienced something similar and, if so, what changes helped.
I don’t think I’m in denial, but it’s a fair question to ask.
I’ve mentioned a few times in the thread that I generally sleep well, pay attention to nutrition and hydration, and have had a comprehensive medical evaluation with blood work that didn’t identify any obvious issues.
That doesn’t mean those factors couldn’t still be contributing, and I’m open to experimenting further, especially around workout fueling.
What I’m trying to understand is whether others have experienced a situation where they can complete the workouts successfully but still experience a level of accumulated fatigue that significantly affects their day-to-day functioning outside of training.
If the consensus is that the answer is simply “eat more and sleep more,” that’s useful information. But I’m also hearing from several people who have modified their training structure (for example, moving to a 2:1 cycle) to better match their recovery capacity.
That’s a reasonable suggestion, and I may experiment further with workout fueling, going past 100g carbs per hour.
One complication for me is that I’m currently around 105 kg and I’ve noticed that when I reach the level of fatigue I’m describing, my appetite tends to increase substantially. In other words, the fatigue itself seems to drive overeating.
So I’m trying to find the balance between adequately fueling training and avoiding a situation where the overall training load leaves me so depleted that it negatively impacts both my energy levels and my ability to make good nutritional choices.
That’s part of why I’m interested in whether adjusting the overall training structure (volume, recovery frequency, etc.) might be a better long-term solution for me.
It’s hard for anyone else to assess how what you do and what you feel compares to any other cyclist because you’re replying in generalities. You say things like “my nutrition and sleep are generally good”, but that could mean totally different things to different people. If you want advice, you’re going to have to go into more detail with data like “Tuesday is my hard ride day, that means I ensure I get X carbs on Monday to preload, and consume Y carbs per hour during the ride, followed by eating Z after the effort” and “I always ensure I get X hours of quality sleep by doing these things…”. Do you drink alcohol or use any sleep aids?, etc.
The same goes for “I had blood work that didn’t find anything obvious or significant”. Just as an example, when I mentioned Iron, you replied with the above. Does that mean you had your iron checked? Does “nothing significant” mean they did find something but maybe not something huge? What else?
The same goes for saying you often feel tired at work or spend a lot of weekend time on the couch. It’s hard to know if that is just normal life (we all get tired at work sometimes and we all do rides that leave us needing to spend Saturday afternoon recovering) or if you’re experiencing something more extreme or abnormal without more information.
My personal suggestion would be to work on nutrition and sleep first. If that doesn’t work, and it’s not something causing you to need medical attention, then try going to 2:1. We’re all different and sometimes you just have to experiment until you figure it out. Good luck!
Edit: you did post some additional info while I was typing. That’s helpful. Keep thinking out loud.
That’s fair feedback, and I probably haven’t been specific enough.
For context:
I’m 57 years old and around 105 kg.
I train at around 7 a.m.
I typically sleep around 9 hours per night in a cool room using an eye mask. My Garmin sleep scores are generally in the 80s.
I don’t use sleep aids.
I underwent an extensive medical evaluation at a private clinic specifically because of my post-exercise fatigue, including wide range blood work. Nothing significant was identified that explained the symptoms.
I can complete the TrainerRoad workouts as prescribed.
I pay attention to nutrition and hydration and make a point of replenishing carbohydrates after training (100g carbs per hour).
The fatigue I’m describing goes beyond simply having tired legs. At times, particularly as a training block progresses, I may struggle to function at my usual level at work or need to spend much of a weekend afternoon recovering on the couch, despite still being able to execute the workouts.
I’m not trying to argue that something is medically wrong. Rather, I’m trying to determine whether this represents a mismatch between the training structure and my ability to absorb training stress, and whether approaches such as a 2:1 cycle have helped others in a similar situation.
I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and perspectives.
Sounds like you have a good handle on sleep and carbs. I know those things are hard to do when you’re also concerned with weight gain. One thing I’d note (and this is different for different people) is that when I’ve personally struggled with high training fatigue in the past, I’ve felt tired all the time…but also not been able to sleep. It’s frustrating!! Sounds like maybe you don’t have that issue.
Personally, I don’t think that’s abnormal. Well trained athletes spend a lot of time recovering for the next workout, and you’re right that it gets worse as we age! Having said that, you were concerned enough to get a medical specialist to look into it. It might be worth experimenting with a block of 2:1 and seeing if that improves things. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve definitely considered doing so. I’d love to hear your analysis afterwards!
Just to be clear, when you say that you had a wide range of blood work done and nothing significant was identified to explain your symptoms, did that testing include ferritin? I struggled with fatigue and other issues similar to yours for several years while I continued to be able to complete workouts, slept well (with good Garmin sleep scores), and my overall iron levels looked fine to my PC. I kept thinking I just needed to train more and everything would sort itself out. I finally got fed up with seeing no improvements and had a more in-depth discussion with my PC who ordered more specific iron tests including ferritin. Result of that test was that my ferritin level was 7 ng/mL. Upon reviewing the results with my PC he noted that he had only seen one other patient with a level that low and that they were eating paper. I’ve since taken steps to improve my ferritin levels that included ceasing donating blood and taking an iron supplement w/ vitamin C every other day. These steps have made a big difference.
I replied to you that the 3 week on 1 week off was also too much for me. As I have manually adjusted my plan to 2 weeks on and 1 week off I am absorbing the training much better and it is working well. Hope that helps.
I am assuming that you are not just replenishing carbs after training. If you are overly hungry after your workouts, you are not eating enough or not eating the right foods at the right time (throughout the day). Normal hunger 2-3 hours after a ride can be considered normal.
That’s an interesting suggestion. I tried the TrainerRoad calculator and, at my current weight of around 105 kg, it recommends roughly 3,500–3,700 calories per day.
To be honest, that number surprised me. One of my goals is gradual weight loss, and I’ve noticed that when I experience the kind of profound fatigue I’ve been describing, my appetite tends to increase significantly, which can lead to overeating.
I do pay attention to nutrition. I train at around 7 a.m., typically sleep around 9 hours with Garmin sleep scores in the 80s, and I’ve had an extensive medical workup specifically because of this issue, which didn’t identify an obvious cause.
That said, I haven’t systematically compared my actual calorie intake against the TrainerRoad recommendations. It’s possible that, in trying to avoid overeating, I may not be fully supporting the training load.
I think this gives me another variable to experiment with alongside the idea of moving to a 2:1 training structure. Thanks for sharing the calculator.
I don’t think I’m experiencing excessive hunger immediately after workouts. What I’ve noticed is that, during periods when this deeper fatigue accumulates over a training block, my overall appetite tends to increase and I find it harder to regulate my intake.
The discussion here has made me realize that, while I pay attention to nutrition, I haven’t systematically quantified whether I’m actually meeting my energy needs relative to the training load. Based on TrainerRoad’s calculator, my estimated needs may be higher than I expected.
So I think there are two experiments worth trying:
Being more deliberate about overall energy intake and workout fueling, not just post-workout replenishment.
Testing whether a 2-weeks-on/1-week-off structure better matches my ability to absorb training stress.
I appreciate everyone’s input. It’s given me a few practical ideas to work with rather than just guessing.
