Early morning training rides: bad performance
#1
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Early morning training rides: bad performance
So lately I noticed that I have terrible performance during early morning training sessions. I was thinking that there is something else to it, but after months of training I can tell that I find myself suffering more during early morning training sessions. My HR is much higher for the same power than in the afternoon. I try to wake up early and eat something with a lot of crabs, but still find myself suffering like a dog. Obviously it gets worse if I didn't sleep well or had a hard day before.
Is this common? What should I do with it? Any tips?
Is this common? What should I do with it? Any tips?
#2
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Yeah I used to eat a lot of crabs before workouts too, but I find scarfing a tin of sardines before hopping on the bike seems to work better for me and it's wayyyyy cheaper.
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That's a lot of caffeine, no? At 20ish mg/8 Oz (top of my head, this may be the mismatch), that's like 16 ounces of coffee first thing in the morning
I solved this problem by refusing to do early workouts, and arranging my life accordingly, but I realize that's not always a solution that will work with other people's priorities.
I solved this problem by refusing to do early workouts, and arranging my life accordingly, but I realize that's not always a solution that will work with other people's priorities.
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maybe eating too much? try riding fasted, I do it all the time. it's awesome, I feel light and snappy, and i feel like my mind is sharper. plus it's good if you want to lose weight. fasted training is ******, try it. it really gets your endorphin levels going
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That's a lot of caffeine, no? At 20ish mg/8 Oz (top of my head, this may be the mismatch), that's like 16 ounces of coffee first thing in the morning
I solved this problem by refusing to do early workouts, and arranging my life accordingly, but I realize that's not always a solution that will work with other people's priorities.
I solved this problem by refusing to do early workouts, and arranging my life accordingly, but I realize that's not always a solution that will work with other people's priorities.
#9
Senior Member
A typical caffeine pill is 200mg.
I work out in the am, and can never get out the door within 45 minutes of waking up. I take caffeine first thing, eat a bowl of simple carb cereal and a glass of oj, and get dressed. I bum around long enough to get the blood flowing and warm up enough to head out the door. I guess a few sets of burpees would do the trick, but that's not something I want to do at 5:20 am in a 3rd floor studio apartment with a sleeping wife.
I work out in the am, and can never get out the door within 45 minutes of waking up. I take caffeine first thing, eat a bowl of simple carb cereal and a glass of oj, and get dressed. I bum around long enough to get the blood flowing and warm up enough to head out the door. I guess a few sets of burpees would do the trick, but that's not something I want to do at 5:20 am in a 3rd floor studio apartment with a sleeping wife.
#10
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Thank you guys for the advise. I will definitely try the caffeine pill, but I was a little worried that too much caffeine would make my high HR even higher, but I will give it a try.
I never eat a lot. I usually eat something sweet and light, so that shouldn't be the problem.
I never eat a lot. I usually eat something sweet and light, so that shouldn't be the problem.
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Maybe if you are getting up extra early to eat something, you are just not getting enough sleep. Or maybe you're not a morning person.
Like @ypsetihw, I do all my morning workouts fasted. But I'm on the bike way early, like 4 or 5 am, no way could I lose any more sleep to eat prior. One cup of black coffee and I'm out the door.
Like @ypsetihw, I do all my morning workouts fasted. But I'm on the bike way early, like 4 or 5 am, no way could I lose any more sleep to eat prior. One cup of black coffee and I'm out the door.
#13
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So lately I noticed that I have terrible performance during early morning training sessions. I was thinking that there is something else to it, but after months of training I can tell that I find myself suffering more during early morning training sessions. My HR is much higher for the same power than in the afternoon. I try to wake up early and eat something with a lot of crabs, but still find myself suffering like a dog. Obviously it gets worse if I didn't sleep well or had a hard day before.
Is this common? What should I do with it? Any tips?
Is this common? What should I do with it? Any tips?
For me, I just do a (small) bowl of granola or oats & coffee before the ride. If I did a full on huevos rancheros breakfast right before a ride, it'd probably end up on the street.
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Bodies are different and weird. It's taken me *years* of teaching my body how to perform in the morning. I generally never eat before a morning ride. I have 1-2 cups of coffee. And I usually need to be up 2hrs before I start my ride (3 if I can swing it).
Pretty much no one can jump out of bed and be on the bike <30min and perform well.
Pretty much no one can jump out of bed and be on the bike <30min and perform well.
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Disagree that it's rare? A couple counterexamples are consistent with the claim. The '3hr rule' is a very common sports physiology recommendation.
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just a thought, but this came up in a couple other threads in the last couple months - 2 things to watch out for or have checked by your doctor:
1) overtraining - stress of training can easily accumulate over the period of a couple weeks, and if you aren't hydrating enough, sleeping enough, or taking enough days off, you can slowly wind yourself into a black hole of feeling like crap for no apparent reason. this isn't like bonking or having sore muscles, it happens slowly and grinds on you until you wake up one day and just aren't feeling it, and if it goes unchecked it can last for a long time. it happened to me last summer and I just couldn't shake it until I took a few days off the bike, and ate and slept a lot. it hit the reset button for me and I felt like a million bucks.
2)pre-diabetes - consider getting your blood sugar profile checked by your doctor. diabetes runs in my mother's family and my doctor was concerned that perhaps my lack of energy and general fatigue and fogginess was due to out of control blood sugar numbers. turns out it wasn't, thank god, but it was good to get it checked out and establish a baseline for my body to track over time. it could be that over night your blood sugar is crashing which is causing you to feel like crap, and then leading to a cycle of blood sugar peaks and valleys after your high carb breakfast followed by a high intensity workout.
1) overtraining - stress of training can easily accumulate over the period of a couple weeks, and if you aren't hydrating enough, sleeping enough, or taking enough days off, you can slowly wind yourself into a black hole of feeling like crap for no apparent reason. this isn't like bonking or having sore muscles, it happens slowly and grinds on you until you wake up one day and just aren't feeling it, and if it goes unchecked it can last for a long time. it happened to me last summer and I just couldn't shake it until I took a few days off the bike, and ate and slept a lot. it hit the reset button for me and I felt like a million bucks.
2)pre-diabetes - consider getting your blood sugar profile checked by your doctor. diabetes runs in my mother's family and my doctor was concerned that perhaps my lack of energy and general fatigue and fogginess was due to out of control blood sugar numbers. turns out it wasn't, thank god, but it was good to get it checked out and establish a baseline for my body to track over time. it could be that over night your blood sugar is crashing which is causing you to feel like crap, and then leading to a cycle of blood sugar peaks and valleys after your high carb breakfast followed by a high intensity workout.
#19
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I wake up at 5, piss, put on clothes, pour my coffee, and get on the bike about 5:10. I may be a bit sluggish at the start but after 15 minutes or so I'm pretty much as weak as I am at any other part of the day.
#20
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I'm a morning person that has been riding within 30-45min of waking up for years, it's kinda my routine.
Another option is to only train and test in the morning so you don't actually know if you're better at other times .
Another option is to only train and test in the morning so you don't actually know if you're better at other times .
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#21
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Up at 4:30, coffee, and then on the rollers by 5:30. Helps to be a morning person that is in bed by 8 pm typically.