wolfchild

I have to disagree with you on that one...There are a lot of people out there who stall their progress and fail to get continual results because they are doing too much too often. When it comes to weightlifting less is more, this is especially true for somebody who is older and has been training for a long time.

Cycling is low impact and can be done everyday without any danger of overtraining.

OBoile

You should probably stop breathing too, just in case you over exert yourself and ruin your gains. Oh, and hook up a catheter so you don't expend energy walking to the bathroom.

canklecat

Some successful athletes actually do credit their success to that approach -- plenty of rest, including days off doing almost nothing physical.

Others train every day or nearly every day and do well with that approach. Boxers Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather were known to be gym rats who never got out of shape. Sure worked for Hopkins, who was successful into his late 40s, including holding and defending world titles. He didn't look "old" until he was a couple months shy of his 50th birthday when he was beaten by a peak condition Sergey Kovalev (who himself hasn't aged nearly as well and is washed up in his mid-30s).

Cruiserweight and heavyweight champ and perennial contender Evander Holyfield was known to be an obsessive gym rat. Folks who trained with Holyfield said it wasn't unusual for Evander to return to the gym after starting to leave because he'd forgotten a set of reps, or did only 14 reps instead of 15. And he'd sometimes overtrain just before a fight, leaving him short of fuel. It wasn't unusual for Holyfield to inexplicably get tired in the middle rounds, then get stronger toward the late rounds if he survived the middle rounds. Pretty much a classic example of how the body uses glycogen stores to regain that second wind. But Holyfield isn't a great case for arguments about training because he also used PEDs, reportedly some better suited to bodybuilders such as messing with insulin -- not a good idea for boxing, which has physical demands very comparable to a short criterium... if the crit also involved no helmets, lots of crashes, getting run over by other racers, and getting back up every time to continue racing.

But that's what a methodical approach with data are for. We (and a coach, if we have one) can easily figure out within a few weeks whether we need to modify our approach to training, diet, rest, etc.

At 62 I already know I can't train at the level I did in my teens and 20s. My body needs more recovery time. Workout rides 6-7 days a week wore me out and I couldn't get beyond a plateau. My logs reflect the advantages to taking 2-3 days of full rest a week, or doing nothing more vigorous than walking and/or stretching. And I've cut way back on the HIIT sessions, sometimes doing an indoor HIIT session only every other week (short sessions, brief sprints and recoveries). And once a week longer intervals of 1-5 minutes with appropriate rest/low effort in between, mostly with hill climbs and long grades (or into headwinds on our rare days with strong wind from the west or east). My other rides are either spirited club rides with the usual mix of high/low efforts; or solo time trial type rides.

But a friend who's 60 often rides every day, 20-50 miles, often at a pace that would leave me needing a couple of days off. The weekend "recovery" rides he often participates in are my full gas rides. I can do 'em maybe once a week, but only if I'm careful to take a full rest day before and after. He can keep chugging along regardless.

Gotta figure out what works best for you. It's pretty easy to test the effectiveness after a few weeks of a methodical approach.

Seattle Forrest

Have you ever tried hiking?

jadocs

Yes absolutely. In a previous life I was a competitive bodybuilder. After qualifying for Nationals, I quit. The dieting, obsessive workout schedule completely took over my life. I couldn’t go on vacation without ensuring there was a proper gym I could go to. The dieting both off season and pre contest completely took over my life. I remember going to the movies and breaking out some tuna to get my 25 grams of protein that I had to consume every 2.5 hours. I went from one extreme to the other. It took me a good while to find a happy medium.

KraneXL

For the record, there is a difference between being committed and an obsession. Because you have a goal and a plan, this is not an example of exercise addiction.Remember those standardized tests in high school where you would read a passage and then determine: "What is this passage about?" You missed it by that much.

OBoile

No, I was just making fun of your ridiculous comment. You can't seriously believe that:
1. People don't have lives and can afford to do nothing for an entire day every week
and
2. Doing basic household tasks will significantly affect your recovery
I mean, I generally don't agree with anything you post, but this is about as crazy as it gets.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, well, OTOH . . . I got the floors I wanted in our remodel on the promise that I would care for said beautiful floors. I do floors, usually after working out or riding in the morning.. Downstairs, I vacuum, scrub the whole floor on my hands and knees, then wet-mop it. Same thing in upstairs bathroom and bedroom. Then I vacuum the carpeted rooms. Yeah, that definitely affects my recovery, duh. Sometimes I can do all that and not have my back hurt like hell if I've worked out that morning or the day before. But usually it does. Legs get tired, too. But housework's good training, too. It's all good training if you're actually training. Who was that rider who was carried around by his team mates during the tour?

I should probably also reply to the OP. Exercise addiction does not particularly lead to overtraining. If one is truly exercise addicted, one would not overtrain, because avoiding that latter issue is part of training, just as is not getting injured doing stupid things.

But of course #1 point is valid. You have to just suck it up and do what you have to do. I could probably wear my HRM when I do floors and get hrTSS credit for it. But I don't. There are also other times when I don't wear my HRM for credit. Life is complicated, so I don't only train by CTL and TSB, I also use HRV, which usually parallels TSB, but not always.

OBoile

But let's be clear, what you're doing isn't exactly the same as "working on your bike" or "organizing your sock drawer". Plus, while this may affect your recovery (I would say, "slightly" as opposed to "significantly"), the idea that you *need* a day where stuff like this isn't done is so extreme as to be laughable.

Pros riding the tour is one thing. But, even many pros have young children. Do you think they are getting a day off every week during the off-season when they are at home? I think it's much more likely that your final statement:
applies to them too.

wolfchild

I can't do that without feeling like crap. Trust me, I've tried. the type of rest you're talking about here and it doesn't do anything positive for me. I feel so much better when being active and doing something.

Seattle Forrest

Active recovery "is a thing" because it works. In the context of cycling, going for a leisurely walk or a recovery ride gets more blood into your legs, or as my buddy put it "shakes the soreness out." It's nutty and unrealistic to think people have to do absolutely nothing until they've recovered from some exercise.

Also, muscle building and loss happen 24 hours a day. We're not talking about power lifting here, or even running; we're talking about riding bikes.

​​​​​My doctor told me it's better be for me to stay active while I recover from a really bad case of tendinitis. I don't know how many of you have had it, in the foot and ankle no less, but it's harder to recover from than doing a long ride or a gym session. And the doc wants me doing, well, more than nothing.

canklecat

The total rest day thing is usually for elite level athletes just before a competition or attempt at a new record. And that's after tapering. So the final active recovery day would typically be a couple of days before the competition or record attempt. That's pretty typical for most boxers in the top ten when prepping for a big fight. Their managers and coaches don't even want them walking around much the day before. Some athletes in other top tier competitions take a similar approach.

When Phil Gaimon visited Medellin, Colombia a year or so ago for a KOM attempt, he also did a travelogue show that included some hiking with his guides and hosts. Between the hike and thin air Phil was way below peak form the next day and bailed out on the KOM attempt. Oh, he was still generating almost 400 watts on the climb. But that was nowhere near enough for the KOM so there was no point in continuing. And if you've watched enough of his videos it was evident that his form was way off peak.

I take plenty of complete rest days -- other than housework or short walks to the nearby store -- because at 62 I can't train at the level I used to. And I do active recovery rides solo because most so-called group recovery rides gradually ramp up to tempo pace rides within 5 miles when fellow MAMILs can't resist showing off.

But for younger peak form athletes it's a whole nuther game.

KraneXL

You don't have to believe me. Talk to your healthcare provide. They'll explain it to you and why it so vital to shut down your body completely for long-term health and vitality.

Speaking of which, I just experience an example of overtraining. Last year I made a resolution to drop some body fat (that persistent layer around the waist). I had don't pretty good cutting my sugar consumption by 75%. Nevertheless, the year was ending and I still had about 2% to go. In a frantic -- albeit futile -- attempt to burn the fat before the year ended I started training continuously.

Needless to say all that stress on my body, and with too little rest in-between took its toll. I stated getting sever shoulder pains along with clicking and popping not only on my bad side but on my good shoulder as well. The pain was so bad I couldn't even reach for the clock to check the time.

A clear and present indication that I had been overtraining. This weekend, I took an extra day off and made it my focus to spend as much time in bed -- hopefully asleep -- as I could. Today, the soreness in my shoulder is greatly reduced and my mobility is a whole lot better.

Now when I go back to training again, I can do a whole lot more because I won't be limited by stiffness and pain. I don't just make this stuff up.