Mar 11
17
The thin line between fatigued and f%^ed
This one came up again today…..I received an email that started like this:
Quads smashed, everything tight, couldnt make the pace of the intervals…..should I drop Fridays session etc?
Navigating the line between fatigued and f#$%ed is tricky especially for the inexperienced athlete .
The whole idea of training hard is to force the body to adapt- this means to some extent you have to break it down and make it tired- but how much?
Its very fashionable and very safe and saleable in coaching circles to say “less is more” or “dont overestimate the power of rest”. No coach ever got fired for telling someone to not train, no injuries or lawsuits ever get generated from this advice. Its always popular and people keep paying up the money….but who’s getting short changed?
There are times when it is exactly the right time to keep going when we feel fatigued- especially if you are training for endurance events. Often doing a week or two more when you feel stuffed- you pop out the other side bullet proof- cyclists, runners and triathletes have been doing this since Adam was a boy. Its the principal of overload at its best. It’s uncomfortable and mentally taxing-sometimes people do get injured pushing through a big block of training- this is why it is neither popular or fashionable- but those that do often set themselves apart
So where’s the line between stupidity and determination? The answer is primarily a good sense of self awarness….no coach can do it completely for you …but here are some cues
If you are falling asleep during the day, everything aches,you cant walk or sit without pain, you are constantly hungry and your heart rate is erratic- then you are probably in need of another rest day- its worth rescheduling or skipping for a while
If you are recovering an injury or continuing training is likely to cause injury then dont train past the point it becomes worse or jeopardises its treatment
If you have day after day for an extended period where you continually feel more tired- ie there is no intraday or intra week signs of recovery going on- then you need to back off. Especially for longer distance folks intraweek tiredness is the norm- dont let it scare you off backing up!
On the other hand……….if you are just feeling a bit fatigued then START the workout. See what happens. You can always adjust the pace or the watts a bit lower to get through it. Often you will come good and be able to work into the session. Sometimes you’ll sense you cant go too hard and the session can then become one of “active recovery” which often works better than nothing at all- particularly if you are feeling stiff from sitting during days off or previous days hard efforts. We shouldnt be scared of starting sessions tired just because we’ve studied a pretty diagram that says Training>Resting>Recovery>Adaption. Not much in life is a linear process despite the attractive simplicity within a textbook or marketing brochure !
So next time you are trying to convince yourself you are being oh so sensible and scientific ask yourself whether you really need that extra day off or whether you need to dog that interval session. You never know the next breakthrough might be hiding on the other side
