For the past year or so I seem to be building up nicely for about 8 weeks then I start to add some intensity and eventually get sick. This happens about every 8 weeks or so, Im not sure if its technically over training, but its become a burden. I have even lowered my training volume doing 1 sport a day with at least 1 day off. My diet is fairly clean but I am not a huge into eating a massive amount of carbs. Maybe add more carbs or overall calories? Any suggestions?
Carbs = energy dude. They’re very good for you when doing endurance training! Eat lots!
Difficult to know whether you need more carbs/calories without knowing your current body shape and training volume. If you’re already a skinny guy who is under 10% body fat then a few more calories might help. If you’re doing long sessions then you certainly need to be taking on enough carbs to get you through them. Really cleaning up your diet and making sure you’re getting loads of fruit and veg won’t hurt.
If your diet is OK and you’re feeding in the intensity gradually (sounds like you are) then other things to look at are:
- Sleep. 8 hours a night is a good guide for most people as a minimum, if you can fit in a power nap as well (most people with jobs can’t of course) that wouldn’t hurt. I try and get in a 40 minute snooze at lunchtime at the weekends on the day I do my long ride or run, does me no end of good (I’m lucky in that both my kids are young enough to still have a lunchtime nap as well!)
- Stress. Stress knocks the immune system right down.
- Hygiene. Don’t become OCD about it, but definitely worth paying a bit more attention to washing your hands frequently and thoroughly, it’s how most germs get passed around
- Working/travelling environment. Immediately after a hard training session, you are a lot more vulnerable to picking up illnesses. I used to train hard in the morning and then get immediately onto the London underground transport system which basically involved at that time standing within inches of a whole bunch of people for your whole journey. I used to get sick the whole time. I bought a moped and started either cycling or scooting to work instead, and suddenly I hardly got ill at all.
im 5’11 165lbs about 13% bf. But I also havent been dropped any weight with more volume like in previous years . Now that I’ve been thinking about it I’m not sure I am eating enough calories in general due to my work schedule. I work at a gym so I’m always on my feet. I wash my hands and sanitize as much as possible for this reason.
It isn’t like you are dangerously skinny or anything. Perhaps you should see a doctor, you may have something that you are never actually getting over, or have some sort of mineral/vitamin deficiency
Get your iron levels checked out.
You are not too skinny, same height weigh 20lbs less.
I’d add volume first…and then if you can hold it add the intensity. Don’t add both at the same time! Too much stress on the body
I typically do a more volume type training. This year Ive been trying to add some speed so I’ve been doing to harder intervals every week
For the past year or so I seem to be building up nicely for about 8 weeks then I start to add some intensity and eventually get sick. This happens about every 8 weeks or so,
Then take a week off (cut volume to 1/4 of normal, with little or on intensity) every seven weeks.
Is your volume build period at too high an intensity? Sometimes a reality check is needed, in that to really increase volume, especially if life stress is otherwise at moderate / high levels, the intensity really has to remain low.
It could be possible. I did notice my heart rate abnormally high on what was supposed to be a slower run. I’m in boulder so there is a ton of outside pressure to be as fast as possible.
Im not sure if its technically over training, but its become a burden.
If you’re into gadgets, you could take a look at Restwise, Omegawave, etc. They might be able to tell if you’re stretching the training load.
It could be possible. I did notice my heart rate abnormally high on what was supposed to be a slower run. I’m in boulder so there is a ton of outside pressure to be as fast as possible.
I have recently hooked up with a coach who is quite big into heart rate training and zones. And based on what we do, the endurance and easy work is slow, really slow. And the speed stuff is hard and fast, but really short. And it is working well. I don’t get nearly as tired as I used to and have seen a big increase in speed and endurance. Took about 3-4 months but my easy slow stuff is now in the world that my faster stuff used to be.
Everyone is different, depending on your body type you can take a few different approaches. I’m only speaking from experience and what I’ve researched over the years. I’ve had some fat to lose so I stayed fairly low on the carb intake. I only eat carbs before race days and during looong workouts sometimes (over 1:40-2:00 long). You’re going to take in carbs in other foods but it’s probably around or less than 100g a day when I’m trying not to eat them.
You have to get an idea where your heart rate is during all types of your workouts. Carbs are necessary, yes but some tend to think that you need them for everything. If my heart rate is less than 65-70% then I don’t need them. Keep in mind that you should still have some fat on your body to burn. Learn how your body feeds itself in the form of carbs, fat, protein and what happens when you deplete the first two. Once I get to my goal weight, slowly add more carbs into your diet until your weight stays in your goal range. It sounds like you just need to do a little research on how your diet works for your body and training heart rate zones that will work with what you’re eating… and drinking.
I don’t really count calories. If I’m hungry, I eat. But clean foods. Protein shakes, steak, chicken and vegetables. Snack on nuts, and keep sugar out of the diet.
Do you do a recovery meal within 20 minutes of your workout? I find that for me, this is huge. Bottle of Heed or similar plus a hard boiled egg right after a workout does great things.
Yes, I usually have a post work out meal or shake
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It’s not overtraining. It’s overreaching. (True overtraining can take months to recover from)
track calories burned / calories eaten for a bit and see if you’re low (though if you’ve lost weight that would tell you)
try more CHO and see if it makes a difference
sleep more… naps are good!
I haven’t lost any weight, but I haven’t gained any either. What do you mean by CHO?
CarboHydrate
don’t know why it’s not COH
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It has to do with the formula of a carbohydrate: Cm(H2O)n
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Overtraining has more to do with personality. Food is just an accomplice. Training obsession is usually the problem. Study more rest and recovery.