Post-Track Recovery Period

You need a kid.

 

It isnt that. It is the same at work. I just can't sleep much. Don't really know why. It is almost like it feels as if im missing something when im sleeping. And if i wake up for any reason, im up. Doesnt matter if it is 2-3am.

There are exceptions. Sometimes after a track/race weekend i sleep good for a few days.

 

This. If I sleep more than 5-6 hrs. , I feel I`m wasting the day! I`ll sleep when I`m dead!

 

Best way to improve this is with a foam roller and hit your trigger points with a lacrosse ball. This should really be done by everyone (athlete & non-athlete), for at least a couple hours per week. If you really want to throw down some bucks, hook up your legs to some Normatec recovery boots once you get off the bike.

- former road racer & current triathlete

 

Throw down some bucks is right. $1750:wow:

 

This is something that's bugging me. For the last month or so I've found myself to be absolutely exhausted in the morning, and at various points during the day. If I'm not actively moving and doing something, I'll pass out right where I sit. This is a problem.. because I get paid to sit (and write software, which you don't do well when you're struggling to think through exhaustion).

I've also stepped up my athletic output dramatically in the last month, so I have a hunch the two things are related. I'm probably near Brooooome levels of output: bike 45min to work in the mornings, then 15min of pushups/core before using the shower. 30min run at lunch (sometimes), then an hour or two of boxing and running after work. Then an hour bike ride home. Shitload of working out, I know. Whatever.

Broome: You have a higher output and you're still an insomniac. Wtf is the trick? I'm not even looking to be a crack monkey like you and jump out of bed spazzing after 4hr of sleep.. I'm just looking to be simply satisfied with 8. I've started tracking my food intake to see if I'm starving myself or something, but I don't think that's the case - I don't constantly feel hungry and I'm not drastically dropping weight, so I think I'm at least calorically balanced.. though I may be deficient in some vitamin or nutrient, I dunno.

 

Why are you doing all of this work? Fitness or weight loss? Your issue is definitely nutrition. With that much activity you should be eating a ton. You shouldn't be "dropping" any weight, drastically or not, because you should be replacing any body fat lost with muscle. You're definitely in a catabolic state. I'm guessing your body has burned up all of your food and is having to eat up some muscle to keep you going, resulting in you being tired all of the time. Are you also on a low carb diet?

 

I have a lot of extra time these days to fill up and I figured I might as well do something that'll improve me, instead of just vegging out on TV or video games.

I don't think my diet's very low-carb.. if anything it's probably higher in carbs than it should be. I've only tracked my diet for a couple days so far however so I don't really know.

The replacing-with-muscle thing to explain lack of weight loss I get, but I'm not actually doing too much weightlifting or bulking up, most of the work I'm doing seems more cardiovascular. Biking, running, etc. The boxing is probably the most strength-related thing I'm doing but even that's more speed oriented than slow and hard-hitting. I'm not going for weight loss, so it's actually good. There's not much pudge on me but if I were drastically catabolic wouldn't I see myself shrinking, whether or not it was fat or muscle being consumed?

 

Wait wait wait. Aren't you the guy who can't do a intermediate trackday without being whipped for 2 days??

 

I thought insanity required wearing yoga pants?

 

You got me! I might have embellished a little considering my lack of sleep and recovery time. It's now been three days and I feel completely fine, and looking back on this last weekend, I drank hardly any fluids all day, had zero recovery nutrition, and only got a few hours of sleep. (And I DID run the last session with the advanced guys and kicked ass)


I know riding is hard, I was looking to see if others had similar experiences or if I'm doing something wrong in the technique dept that is taxing my body too much.


Regardless, falling asleep any time your sitting still is a sure sign of exhaustion. You're doing up to 4.5 hours of exercise per day. That's a TON of calories burned. The average for the exercises you listed is about 600 calories per hour, so you're burning in the neighborhood of 2600 calories just in exercise per day, plus about that much or more in your normal restive state. I doubt you're eating anywhere near 5200 calories per day. If you've been doing this consistently for a month you're right on the verge of your body giving up on you. Continue for much longer and you're going to find yourself with a really nasty flu or looking like a Holocaust survivor.

 

I did have about a week-long pretty sick phase. Chalked it up to not getting the flu shot, but that makes sense too. Didn't do anything during that week so the rest probably brought stuff back into order.

I just find it weird that I'm not constantly feeling hungry. Diet tracker will tell I guess. Don't think it's the case but maybe I'm eating like crap with filling-but-not-nutritious food.

 

After the first three days of stavation, that hunger sensation goes away.

 

Do you mean "I'm now constantly" and not "I'm not constantly"? Otherwise the rest of your statement doesn't make sense ot me.

 

That is a tough one.

If you have specific questions about diet, nutrition, supplements (OTC or not) etc i could help you. But as far as how to be satisfied with the amount of sleep you are getting, i really don't know how to answer that.

It will catch up with me about once a month or so. Especially after a track/race weekend. I am so excited for several days leading up to the weekend, and dont sleep much. Then during the weekend, im not sure if i actually sleep. I end up going out and just sitting on the bikes at like 2-3am or some shit. Usually the Mon and Tue night after a race weekend, i will sleep more. Even as much as 7-8hrs.

We talked about sleep for a few weeks in one of my health classes in college and one of the things they said was if you get woke up by any outside source, you havent had enough sleep. They went on about some study where people were isolated for a couple of weeks with no way to know what time it was (no windows, TV's, clocks, etc) and how much they slept. The thing is, i wake up on my own. I can't remember the last time i was woken up by an alarm or something else.

Then when i wake up, it is almost like im excited because it is time to get up. I will think "im going to go wake Caesar up and mess with him", or ill be like "lemme see what these beeb fuckers were on about last night" or "im going to try to pedal for an hour non-stop this morning" and im up out of bed.

I really don't know why, or how to tell you to be the same. Maybe try what they were talking about in college, and next time you get a chance, cover all the windows, turn all the alarms off, turn on a fan to drown out any noise and just see how long you sleep. They said in the first few days of the study, some of the people slept as much as 10-11hrs.

 

I just want to point out that working out is not a replacement for good sex and since you've just become single....I think you are trying to replace one for the other.

 

Idjit.

 

Found a mirror?

 

That is a valid point. I haven't figured up calories, but in a typical day i will spend roughly 4.5-5hrs training (1hr in the morning, 2.5-3hrs after lunch, 1hr in the afternoon/evening). That is just the time spent actively performing a workout. That doesn't include taking Caesar for 2 walks a day (roughly 25min each time) or time spent riding the motorcycle and other daily stuff.

But my daily food/supplement intake looks something like this...

- Immediately after waking - 1/2 Carnivore shot (25g protein) and BCAA's (to get my body out of the catabolic state from sleeping)

*First workout* (i like to do my first workout prior to breakfast to help burn stored bodyfat)

- 3 whole eggs, slide of wheat bread, banana, 2 cups of skim milk, Multivitamin.

- About 2hrs later - cup of Oikos Greek yogurt with some granola, pineapple and cottage cheese.

- Pre-workout - Whey protein shake, banana, 1/2 bagel.

*Go to the gym*

- Post-workout - Whey protein shake made with Skim milk, cup of pineapples, BCAA's.

- About an hour later - Chicken breast, 1/2 can of Sweet Peas

- 2hrs later - Another cup of Oikos mixed with Granola.

*Bicycle ride or stationary bike*

- Supper time (usually something like Chicken or Steak, some potatoes, some vegetables, whatever).

- Before bed - Casein protein shake (larger molecules, breaks down slower, postpones catabolic state).

And I drink a gallon of water during the day. I always have a bottle with me. Or i will fill up a gallon jug in the beginning of the day and just keep it with me all the time.

Next day, repeat.

Obviously that diet/routine will be altered depending on other activities/obligations etc. But that is a typical day. And I do my last workout on Tuesday or Wednesday prior to a race/track weekend, but continue with the protein/supplements, to allow my body a chance to recovery. You don't want to start a weekend already sore/fatigued. Like he said, you simply can't expect your body to be able to maintain if you train and live that kind of lifestyle without providing it the proper fuel for energy and recovery.

 

Two cups of coffee, now I think I'll have some apple pie for breakfast.