The long and short of it at the moment is in the past 2 months I’ve been getting niggly injuries that I cannot seem to shake. I’m suspecting burnout but I don’t know why.
It started with gout which I am now under treatment for, next up was my hip flexor feeling strained, then my neck muscle on one side. After these recovered. It’s gone full circle again a few times. My body is giving off the impression it’s exhausted. In the past few weeks I have introduced strength training (thinking it will be good to start strengthing the issues I’m facing), I’m using Dialed health and a variable weight kettlebell which I’ve got on a acceptable weight.
I don’t race, and since may I’ve averaged 100-150km a weekwhen I’ve not been injured. Ive probably lost about 6 weeks over the last 10 due to these issues. Ftp is down 10 watts, and feel tired majority of the time.
I’m at breaking point as to where I go from here. I’m on the verge of just selling all my stuff and going back to my gamer lifestyle. I can’t seem to put these issues behind and my weight will start to creep back up undoing my work.
Am I just having some severe burnout? Help reign in my expectations.
First and foremost, don’t get discouraged. Everybody has setbacks and moments where the training is not going as well as planned. Getting active is the most essential thing you can do to improve your health.
Repetitions of injuries are usually a sign of overdoing it, but you will have to tell us more for us to get a better idea. How do you train, how is your recovery, what do you eat on and off the bike, how stressful is your life/work, how do you sleep…?
I don’t know if you’re having a burnout, but don’t get discouraged. It happens. Just go easy from now on for maybe a month or two, with easy rides and rest weeks.
Your health is more important than your ftp.
Also, I already did ~3 years of only “gaming lifestyle” and will never go back to it.
I think it can make you more miserable if you’ve been exercising regularly before.
The off season is getting close too, so I think its not a bad time to go easy
You very well could be on “the schnide.” It happens, you are not alone!
Do you take a “season break” of at least a week (or two)? Even though you aren’t racing a break every 6 months or so helps your body recover and adapt.
How much sleep are you getting? As a coach I am amazed at how hard people are willing to work, go crazy for recovery hacks, yet ignore the best recovery tool they have… their bed.
If you suspect burn out your probably right. My advice: take a bike vacation. That includes mentally. Then when you come back do some fun rides. Leave the bike computer at home.
I have high uric acid levels but “not gout” if I avoid the foods I’m supposed to, it gets better. I had the lowest volume of riding in ten years this year, but I needed it that way. I finally got some mojo back the past month and bikes feel fun again. It’s tough, it’s a moving target and not every phase is awesome. Injuries, mental struggles, life changes and just bored with another training plan, so I just opted out this year, mostly.
Are you enjoying riding/training when you’re not injured?
10W is nothing. It’s likely that you’ll find that with a week of riding.
Take a step back and consider your long term goals, not season goals but life goals. Why are you cycling in the first place?
I’ve gone through gaming phases too, and it’s super fun but I get bored with it and get the itch for being outdoors and active. Doesn’t need to be all or nothing either. Maybe try some easy rides with few training goals, plug in some rest days with video games too.
A lot of us think we have to train mega hours for improvements and I’d bet most would benefit from some extra time off, when you train when you’re fresh it’s a lot more fun and effective.
You’re not alone, it’s normal, common and will happen again. Good luck!!!
Honestly, this sounds within the realm of normal life for those of us not solely focused on bike training. Yes, you probably need a break. If you can, I’d keep the same amount of time on the bike but do easy and enjoyable rides. If in doubt, give yourself a rest day (or two or three)
Don’t get discouraged. This is a normal setback. You’ll get back on the bike soon enough and resume progress toward your goals.
When you dont feel the urge it is time to take a break. There are many ways to do a break…skip some days of riding or just do whatever you enjoy. When I dont feel the desire to do a hard workout I know I need a break. I do easy endurance rides or just take a couple of weeks off.
The issues you are dealing with may be a function of riding and your body adjusting from your previous lifestyle. I know when I went from a sedentary 55 year old male to riding 3-4 times a week year round…the issues built up. I had to work on those aspects which resulted in more stretching etc.
I am not saying this is your issue…but doing more riding when previously it was zero…the body needs to adapt.
YES!! You sound long past due to give your body and mind a break! Take time off cycling, but this isn’t the end. Don’t sell your bike(s)! Use the spare time you would use for cycling to get your body healthy again. There is no way you can expect to make FTP gains if the body isn’t healthy. PT, stretching, mobility, walking, hiking, swimming, sleeping in even are all better options than gaming. Cycling will always be there, come back to it whenever you feel the motivation return.
If you’ve been building up your training volume, I wonder if you might have gone at things too hard, too sudden? Dialling things back might help.
Have you had a bike fit? If you’re spending more time on the bike, it’s money well spent. No point pushing on with a position that isn’t optimal for you and one that could be placing strain on your body.
As others have said, first and foremost, I’d recommend a break. One full week, maybe more, off the bike completely. Rest the mind and the body.
Honestly sounds like you are burning out and or overtraining, if you have those niggles a Bike fit may be a good idea… If you did a lot of Sweet Spot base that can easily lead to burn out Imo, Take 1 or 2 weeks of and then maybe just ride easy or do stuff on Zwift if you can’t ride outside… And don’t be discouraged a week or even a few of the bike don’t make the time before useless, you may loose fitness but it will come back really quickly.
I trained from February on and increased my volume over the time, but I also took some time of the bike while on Vacation with the Family, which I think was good even if I wanted to train but It helped a bit to reset mentally and physically.
@Kenzii it might have been here or it might have been talking to a buddy who has gout, but, IIRC diet, as I’m sure you are aware of, can contribute to gout. When my friend has his gout under control and reduces red meat and sugar he trains really well. When it’s not under control he suffers badly and complains about feeling overtrained similar to what you wrote.
In principle, I have had the same thing happen the last two years. I make a lot of progress, then I have some health things happen and I lose hope. I recently found out what was causing the problem, but both times I was ready to give up. Last year it came during a gran fondo. I made a ton of progress up through spring, and then it all stopped. I was constantly tired, anxious, worst allergies of my life, got dizzy during rides, etc. Had been to the doctor several times and they couldn’t figure out what was going on. Finally, during a gran fondo I got passed by a guy who shouldn’t be passing me. I couldn’t help but think to myself it has all been a waste of time. And not so much because one particular person passed me, but it was symbolic of the fact that I had put in more hours that summer than I ever had and I still didn’t make any noticeable improvement.
Same thing was happening this year (I also got COVID two weeks before my A race this year). Again, I was thinking to myself I am just not made for endurance sport. However, I stayed vigilante trying to figure out what was causing issues and I finally did shortly after my A race. Now I am the fittest I have ever been. Two saturdays ago I set power PRs for 15-20 minutes, and last saturday I set power PRs from 47 minutes to 2 hours.
A lot of the advice given here is almost exactly what I did. I Rode for fun. I stopped worrying about power or progress for a while.
Point being, you will get through this. And speaking from experience, you will appreciate your gains even more knowing that you wanted to quit.
One last bit of advice I will offer: Don’t let yourself get fooled into thinking “I am doing better, I am going to see what happens when I go back to what I was doing before”. For me, that is eating certain foods and not taking antihistamines as much as I need to. At least twice this summer I felt so good i thought maybe I could stop taking my antihistamines twice a day and both times I started to feel like crap again. I also tried to eat tomatoes a couple of times (literally my favorite food but it exacerbates my problems) and both times I felt like crap.
For those wondering, I was diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome. Tomatoes have something to do with mast cells. My heart rate went up to 180 after eating a tomato sandwich this summer.
in relation to the bike fit, i actually had one in march, and this highlighted a issue with my setup on my Tacx Smart BIke and my actual bike. ended up purchasing a completely new bike that actually fit me :). Managed to buy a too small bike. i think my neck issue is a combination of the neo still not being 100% correct, and weight training compounding it.
Its interesting the issues relating to gout and feeling worn out. I though that given i had to have 2 weeks off cause i literally couldn’t move, this would equate to some time off the bike and recovery, i suppose the added stress of my body trying to function probably means zero recovery.
Sleep at the moment is a major issue. My son has just hit 11 months, and the sleep depreciation is likely catching up with me, on top of the stresses im inflicting itself… in terms of solid recovery as we hit winter, i have been cycling solidly since the end of 2019. the longest block I’ve had off the bike is 8 days. Some prolonged time will do me good.
I’ve signed up for the dragon ride ballot in June 2023, so that will determine my goals going forward
I also went through something similar. I had to revise my diet, which gave a positive result with a break from riding. However, I can say for sure that the presence of stress can be the main source of problems, and many people ignore it. I have been studying the issue of a healthy lifestyle for a long time and writing about it at https://phdessay.com/free-essays-on/healthy-lifestyle/ helping students with homework and noticed that for some it is just a picture for social networks, but for another fanatical goal. Often people are not aware of the concept of health in this matter. In your last message, you are positive, and that’s great. Hope you`re fine.
Cycling will always be there, come back to it whenever you feel the motivation return.