Ricardo

Guys,
I have been riding and trying to shed some pounds since last august. Took a couple of weeks off and today went for my ride again. I had to stop several times to catch my breath and while recovering I could drop to 110´s BPMs in five minutes, now I drop to 150´s BPMs in the same amount of time.

Is this normal?

Ricardo

PS: Good news is I didnt gain any weight.

DannoXYZ 

While "recovery rate" is one measurement of fitness, it's not the only one. You also want to look at LT-HR, VO2-max, max-power, wattage-output at LT, wattage-power at various time-intervals, etc. None of which improves or degrades very quickly in the time-frame of weeks you're talking about. If you do a time-trial, you may find that your times won't be significantly different from a couple weeks ago. And they'll both be faster than last August and last January for sure.

timmhaan

the first ride after a longish break is always shocking. you're body just wants to go back to what it was doing...not riding around in the cold. i can't blame it. BUT, i think you'll be equally surprised at how fast you'll be back to where you were. just ride a few shorter 'recovery' style rides to get limber and avoid injury.

Ricardo

I hope so. I was shocked when I had to stop and catch my breath. Didnt have to do that for months. As a matter of fact I am still shocked. Do you guys think it might be a good idea to go to spinning classes during this days?

Ricardo

dragonflybikes

There is a reason that pros and other racers tend not to ever take a true day off. On their day off they will still ride around even if it is an easy ride. It helps keep the leg muscles remembering what you want them to do. If you need to take a long break, try to do some kind of short ride, even if it is just a 30 min ride on a trainer. It will make a worl of difference.

timmhaan

it's like that with almost any sport. when i was weight lifting a lot, i would miss some days and feel like crap when i returned. same with running.

now, i always try to do at least something endurance wise every day. if i can't ride, then i'll take a long walk or jog or do some exercises at home. just something, every day.

kuan

I don't think you're detrained. Your body just doesn't remember perhaps. The day before a race I have to push the HR in order to remember how to go fast out of the gate.

DannoXYZ 

There's also a difference between how you "feel" subjectively vs. how it "performs". You can have a day where you're feeling like *****, yet you're still quite fast.

One common example of this is eating a big meal an hour or so before a ride. You end up with the classic food-coma and feel soggy and want to take a nap. Hop on the bike and you just want to lay on the bars and sleep. But you can push yourself even in this foggy state and your body will still perform well. The brain is lethargic due to the insulin being pumped out of the bloodstream into the muscles. The legs are primed and ready to go, but your mind isn't feeling up to it.

MikeR

I'm no expert but I read somewhere that aerobic fitness has a half life of 12 days. That is your aerobic fitness drops in half every 12 days that you do no exercise.

dragonflybikes

That is very interesting. Can anyone find any studies or tests showing this as being factual or at least based on reality. If it is real, and not just an internet urban myth, then that would be a cool fact to spew on a ride.

MikeR

I read it in one of the newsletters that came from roadbikerider.com They may have the info on their site.

Richard Cranium

I think the original post was describing a person who had no fitness at all. Just started to gain the very least of some aerobic capacity, then quit, and discovered "unfit" status again. {oh what a shock!}

There's no such thing as a "half-life" for the given capacity of any muscle fiber or cell. Generally, training adaptations that take a very long time to develop will de-train at a slower rate than adaptations related to peak performance or extreme intensities.

Obviously, disease and injury can skew that generalization.

Polonswim

" the first ride after a longish break is always shocking. you're body just wants to go back to what it was doing...not riding around in the cold."

Tell me about it. Just under 60 days off and my body spoke LOUDLY as to the nature of it's complaints.

"I don't think you're detrained. Your body just doesn't remember perhaps. The day before a race I have to push the HR in order to remember how to go fast out of the gate."

No, it is de-trained. Trust me!!!