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Balanced training vs. overtraining!?!
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 2014-04-15 11:54 AM |
 3 |  Subject: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?!Hey there, I have many questions but the one I'll pose now regards what I will term cross training. Really it's extra curricular activity but who's splitting hairs? I'm a somewhat active fellow with a lot of interests, and included there is an interest in doing a Triathlon. But I don't want to give up all the other things I love to do and I'm concerned about overtraining. I've been a cyclist for many years and I'm confident in my riding. I've done multi-week cycling with bog distances back to back to back with no problems. I've always been a grudging runner and in the past I've done reasonable well for some guy rocking up to the start line of a 10k or a half marathon. Never done too well but I'm not out for a position on the podium. I love swimming but I'm basically a floundering heaving bag of misfortune in the water. I'm looking for some coaching on water end of things. So I've got myself a couch to olympic 20 week schedule with a 3-2-2 swim focus. Great. But I've also got myself a a wife and a bunch of buddies that want to go climbing and paddling a few times a week. I'm still skiing touring and will be for another two months before the all the snow is gone up here in Canada and I've just landed a deal on some new kitesurfing gear. So I've got an overly full schedule but that's my problem. My question to the group is, how do I manage my triathlon training around other activities? I can still work in the swims and training runs in terms of hours in the day but I don't want to overtrain myself into a hole. I'f I'm climbing all day and hit the pool in the evening should I shorten my swim interval? Or is the overall time/distance equation paramount? The way I have it figured is that I'm working complimentary muscle groups and keeping cardio generally up so it should be okay as long as I don't over do it? Thoughts? I have been accused of being overzealous but I want my activity cake while I carbo load!!! thanks for your time if you have anything to share. |
| 2014-04-15 3:40 PM in reply to: lumberjackskin |
79 | Subject: RE: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?! If you want to just finish the race I don't think you need to sacrifice any extracurriculars. If you want to do a serious time, you need to drop everything else and focus on swimming, biking and running only. Once you figure that question out, a good approach is to monitor your resting heart rate to watch for overtraining symptoms. Every morning, before you sit up in bed, count your beats per minute. Do this over the course of a few weeks to determine your average. For me, my average is usually around 40-45 bmp. I've learned that no matter how tired, how stressed, etc if my bpm in the morning are in that range, I'll have a good workout(s). However, even if I wake up fresh and motivated but my bmp = 50+ I'm going to have a crappy workout. For me, it works every time. An elevated HR tells me I'm in overtraining territory and either I need to take the day off or cut back on intensity. Usually I'm back to normal the next day or two. If you keep up your other activities, I think this might be a good way to measure if you're overdoing it or not. Good luck! |
| 2014-04-15 3:57 PM in reply to: lumberjackskin |
Pro 6191   | Subject: RE: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?! A 3-2-2 schedule is NOT overzealous... I'm sure your buddies don't fully comprehend the craziness of tri I fluctuate between blocks of serious, focused training where triathlon is my #1 priority, and blocks of unfocused, still-get-stuff-done, room for other activities training. There is not RIGHT way, that's for sure. You're sort of in the middle ground. I'd pick your key workout in each sport each week and make sure those get done. Then, use a "replacement" for the others if necessary. For example, and evening of climbing on a run day? You should still try to get that run in. A day of kitesurfing on a swim day? Your body is wrecked, skip the swim. Ski touring? No tri stuff that day. |
| 2014-04-15 4:01 PM in reply to: lumberjackskin |
1660 | Subject: RE: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?! I actually don't think you'll even be remotely close to true overtraining. To do that, you have to not only train while you're dog tired, but do it repeatedly, and at intensity, for weeks, if not months. The scheduling of activities will be complicated for sure, but I don't think you have to worry about overtraining. You'll certainly be tired at times, but that's not the same as overtraining. |
| 2014-04-17 7:24 PM in reply to: yazmaster |
| 3 | Subject: RE: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?! Wonderful. thank you all for your two cents. I'll start monitoring my at rest heart rate and gather a baseline. It appears I won't have trouble keeping busy this summer. |
| 2014-04-18 10:52 AM in reply to: yazmaster |
Regular 194 Corona | Subject: RE: Balanced training vs. overtraining!?! Originally posted by yazmaster I actually don't think you'll even be remotely close to true overtraining. To do that, you have to not only train while you're dog tired, but do it repeatedly, and at intensity, for weeks, if not months. The scheduling of activities will be complicated for sure, but I don't think you have to worry about overtraining. You'll certainly be tired at times, but that's not the same as overtraining. x2. It took a 6 months of riding 5-7x a week on a bike focus where I was commuting 50+ miles to work a day and then a long ride or 2 on the weekend. If I had a day "off" and I would either lift weights or run and on top of that I was running with my wife during the week after I would finish with my ride home from work. I saw huge fitness gains and weight loss and all the stuff you want but never felt great. Always tired. When I hit the overtraining "wall" I felt the wheels come off and I was done. I was so fatigued I couldn't do anything...anything. I lost all motivation and would train just to train but there was no structure and I lost a lot of fitness. That was 18 months ago. I am just now getting back to feeling like I want to start loading up the volume and I try to keep myself from doing too much. That was a hard knock lesson for me and it kicked my butt. |
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