Let's Talk Overtraining

The big "O".

 

Get your mind out of the gutter.  I mean "Overtraining".  First, I am writing it as one word.  I'm not sure it is, but I am too lazy to look it up.  So, one word it will be to me.

 

I've been thinking and promising these thoughts for a while.  A real world example has prompted me to actually write it down.  Or, in this case type it down.

 

Second, a brief review.  We train so that our body will adapt.  Some train to just make it without dying.  Other train to make it in less time than it took last week, last year, last decade.  Adaption is our goal.  By training we stress our bodies, expect them to repair themselves, and then expect them to get better.  Here is the formula (Forgive the engineer/scientist thing it will not last long):

 

Training=Stress

Repair=Recovery (Active or Inactive)

Result=Faster or Stronger

 

Training + Repair = Result

 

Simple substitution yields:

 

Training + Recovery = Faster or Training + Recovery = Stronger

 

Without going into a bunch of Gaussian Elimination, I will tell you what that silliness yields.

 

We all know what training is.  And, we probably all know how to do.

 

We all also know what our desired result(s) are.

 

That leaves us with recovery.  I would actually argue that both training and results are a function (fancy calculus term here) of recovery.  Thus:

 

Results f(Recovery)

 

Training f(Recovery)

 

Note two things are linked to recovery.  IT IS NOT Recovery f(Training, Results).

 

The amount of recovery needed will depend to the volume and intensity of training.  But, it will also depend on what you are trying to get out of your training (results).

 

Enough talking in math circles.

 

You can train all you want.  Or, you can try to.  At some point you have to allow your body the time and ability to heal itself in order for it to adapt.

 

What does that mean?  It means all your workouts can't be at warp speed.  It means that you can't do three-a-day workouts for six months straight.  Without recovery, be it moderate/slow paced workouts or complete rest, you will very quickly see results flushed down the toilet.

 

What do I do?  I make sure my workout plan involves some active recovery, and I make sure that my plan included one complete off day a week.  I do at least one swim, bike, and run workout a week at about 60% effort.  That means a nice swim for the sake of swimming, a bike ride where I suck wheel most of the time, and a jog.  Side note: while jogging I look for dead bodies.  It always seems that joggers find dead bodies all the time and I log enough miles that I should find one soon.

 

What is/are the sign/s of overtraining?  Google it yourself. 

 

Here is what I have seen recently.  When Ben started "Tri Training" again he added all kinds of stress to his happy training routine.  He started running and even started some swimming.  I'm not Ben (He is much younger than I), but I would call that added stress.  When you go from just riding your little bike to being a triathlete, you are upping the ante as they (I still don't know who "they" are) say.  What he didn't do was add recovery at the same time.  He really added a lot of running and swimming.  But, like I noted, he is younger than I and knows his own body. 

 

How do I know?  Well, we went for an easy Sunday morning ride.  We don't usually ride on Sundays.  But, I had taken off to attend some family chores (see below post)on Saturday, so 60 miles of no work fit in both our schedules.  To fast forward, Ben had a bad day on his bicycle.  He had more issues than I could pay attention to.  Granted, I have a short attention span.  But, he did not have fun.  I actually thought he was practicing for marriage or something.  I'm not sure how many days in a row he worked out previously.  I was coming off a complete day off, so I was fresh as a daisy.  Or the sweaty male equivalent of a daisy.  I was tootling on my bike and Ben was working way harder than he should have been.  What Ben found was the point at which his body could no longer repair itself from the training that he had been putting it through.  Ben, very quickly, figured out that he overtrained himself.

 

Now, everyone's limit will be different.  There is diet, sleep, life stress equations all that to add to the above equations (Gaussian elimination is really necessary).  Once you've been there you will not quickly forget it.  I try to, but sometimes fail at, being 5% undertrained rather than 1% overtrained.  Sometime training is too fun to stop.

 

Your mileage may vary.