In Reply To:
I was just curious to know if anyone had any experience in this area. My question is, are there or can there be complications or physical responses when one goes from higher volume training, (15-18 hours/week) to NOTHING at all in a short period of time? Aside from depression, has anyone read about or experienced any complications that this kind of "shock" effect can have on the body.
Secondly, I know it depends on several factors, but how long would it take to recover from a severe case of being overtrained? I've read that in severe cases, it may take up to 3 month's.
Anyone know about this?
Thanks!
I'm curious about WHY you dropped your training like this, if indeed you did. I assume you're posting this question because that's what you're experiencing. So am I.
Since Feb. 28 I've been sick. I won't got into details because I'm tired of those, but suffice to say that every time I think I'm recovered it comes back again. So far I have noticed that I actually lost weight at first, but in the last week I gained a lot of weight. I tried working out during week two after 10 days completely off, but wasn't going anywhere with it and decided to just rest.
Both Joe Friel in the Triathlete's Training Bible and Jack Daniels in Daniels' Running Formula address illness and conditioning a bit. Some studies have found that up to a month off entirely doesn't affect athletes that much. At least that's what I'm hoping.
The mental side is another thing entirely. I'm going nuts and I suppose my self-confidence (vis-a-vis training and racing) has been shattered pretty well. The longer I'm out of action the taller the mental wall that's building, telling me I've lost my fitness and ruined my season. I know I have a good base from some great weeks of training, but it's still hard not to doubt.
Sorry this is all anecdotal and not scientific. If you're overtrained you could have done some damage to your immune system. That could take more than just one month to restore balance. Peter Reid needed seven weeks completely off, but he was out of sorts for months before that.
American's are definately infekting the world with there English grammer.