Am I overtraining. (Fairly new to road cycling)

[black'n'yellow]

Just need the stamina next.

You need some longer rides then. Ditch the gym sessions (which are of no benefit for cycling anyway) and add that extra two hours onto the end of your current rides...

 

[lulubel]

As others have said, you're not overtraining - you haven't been doing what you're doing long enough for that - but if you carry on the way you are, you will start to suffer from the effects of overtraining, which you really don't want.

If your body's hurting all the time, it's telling you it needs to rest and recover. You need to listen to it. I'm not going to suggest you should ditch the gym sessions completely if you enjoy them, but you certainly shouldn't be doing them every day. You need to give your muscles at least 24 hours rest between weight sessions, so if you really want to go to the gym every day, you could alternate between upper body one day and core the next. Or just go every other day, or two or three times a week. It isn't quantity of weight training that gets results, but quality.

Mix up the cycling too. You could try doing some short, hard rides. Longer, slower rides. Short, easy, "recovery" rides. Doing intervals or hill repeats is fine, but if you push yourself hard one day, make the next day an easy day. And take one or two days off a week to allow your body to rest and recover. Fitness gains don't happen while you're training. They happen when you're resting, when your body rebuilds itself stronger, so it can tackle the demands you're putting on it.

Also, a lot of people here (including me) would recommend eating more "proper" food rather than focusing on powders and sports drinks. You can't beat a banana or some flapjack to help fuel your long rides, and real food tastes a whole lot nicer.

You sound like you're being really hard on yourself with what you're doing at the moment. Ease up a bit, and remember to have fun.

 

[Berties]

As others have said, you're not overtraining - you haven't been doing what you're doing long enough for that - but if you carry on the way you are, you will start to suffer from the effects of overtraining, which you really don't want.

If your body's hurting all the time, it's telling you it needs to rest and recover. You need to listen to it. I'm not going to suggest you should ditch the gym sessions completely if you enjoy them, but you certainly shouldn't be doing them every day. You need to give your muscles at least 24 hours rest between weight sessions, so if you really want to go to the gym every day, you could alternate between upper body one day and core the next. Or just go every other day, or two or three times a week. It isn't quantity of weight training that gets results, but quality.

Mix up the cycling too. You could try doing some short, hard rides. Longer, slower rides. Short, easy, "recovery" rides. Doing intervals or hill repeats is fine, but if you push yourself hard one day, make the next day an easy day. And take one or two days off a week to allow your body to rest and recover. Fitness gains don't happen while you're training. They happen when you're resting, when your body rebuilds itself stronger, so it can tackle the demands you're putting on it.

Also, a lot of people here (including me) would recommend eating more "proper" food rather than focusing on powders and sports drinks. You can't beat a banana or some flapjack to help fuel your long rides, and real food tastes a whole lot nicer.

You sound like you're being really hard on yourself with what you're doing at the moment. Ease up a bit, and remember to have fun.

i will endorse the fact of that you do not need protein shakes,especially for recovery, off the top of my head you only can take 26grms of protein a day after that your body will store it under your skin,a glass of milk has been proven as good as most energy drinks for recovery,also protein shakes are best if you have a good diet and plenty of sleep or just at the top of your game,slow release foods for energy and balanced food in your diet,some thing aint agreeing with your stomach
Gym I am a past master of, you need to slow down ,i would recommend body splits splitting the body into 6 units doing 2 a day 65% of weight 6 reps and build up,weights is all about technique and isolation not how much you can move with a secondary group,
you do your 3 days then rest,for the rest of the week,advice is cheep we all do to much, as its all to addictive especially when you see results,good luck remember quality is the way forward,and plenty of rest and quiet days

 

[roadracerash1]

Cheers for all your responses. I think ill take more rest days. In response to smutchin I joined a cycling club yesterday. Its alittle intimidating when every other person is riding a carbon fiber dura ace racing machine and I turn up on my top end aluminium Trek. Other than that I kept up with the chain and even learned to ride in a chain gang/ bit by bit.

 

[smutchin]

Don't worry too much about your bike - I was in the same situation when I first started riding with a club, but I soon showed that I could keep up with everyone on club runs on my old steel tourer so earned respect that way. One grizzled old roadman used to joke that if I had a proper bike, I'd be dangerous...

d.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

As others have said, you're not overtraining - you haven't been doing what you're doing long enough for that - but if you carry on the way you are, you will start to suffer from the effects of overtraining, which you really don't want.

If your body's hurting all the time, it's telling you it needs to rest and recover. You need to listen to it. I'm not going to suggest you should ditch the gym sessions completely if you enjoy them, but you certainly shouldn't be doing them every day. You need to give your muscles at least 24 hours rest between weight sessions, so if you really want to go to the gym every day, you could alternate between upper body one day and core the next. Or just go every other day, or two or three times a week. It isn't quantity of weight training that gets results, but quality.

Mix up the cycling too. You could try doing some short, hard rides. Longer, slower rides. Short, easy, "recovery" rides. Doing intervals or hill repeats is fine, but if you push yourself hard one day, make the next day an easy day. And take one or two days off a week to allow your body to rest and recover. Fitness gains don't happen while you're training. They happen when you're resting, when your body rebuilds itself stronger, so it can tackle the demands you're putting on it.

Also, a lot of people here (including me) would recommend eating more "proper" food rather than focusing on powders and sports drinks. You can't beat a banana or some flapjack to help fuel your long rides, and real food tastes a whole lot nicer.

You sound like you're being really hard on yourself with what you're doing at the moment. Ease up a bit, and remember to have fun.

Spot on, don't let your body carry on hurting, you need to recover properly. I used to use a brand specific sports recovery - there's a few of them out there but now choose to make my own recovery shakes. One I use is rice milk with spirulina powder and whey protein, and it works better than any branded formula I've used.

I also agree with Black n Yellow; ditch the gym sessions unless you want to concentrate on other forms of fitness beyond cycling and the immediate sportive ahead of you. I can't really talk about how great the gym is though, given the only thing I ever used was the exercise bike when the weather was so crap outside!

It is very important to get a good mixture of different terrains and whatever you find hard, do more to tackle it. For me, that's hill climbing but I've learnt to appreciate the importance of relaxing, concentrating on breathing and working on a steady cadence. Remember, the sportive is not a race and you must work on what you are going to be doing on the sportive so if it's hilly, find out which hills and have a go at them.

What Black n Yellow says about time in the saddle however is of the utmost importance, build up from your average 40 miles to 60, 80 and then a 100 but don't leave it too long. Make sure you take water and carb drinks and real food as Lulubel suggests above is also important. Energy gels also work a treat for me - the Zipvit Caffeine gels are superb IMO.

Don't be afraid to stop on your solo 100 miler, you will stop on a sportive at a feeding station and in my book take on board grub and fluid even if you think you could do without for a while longer. Trust, by the time you feel dehydrated, it's too late and by the time you feel hungry and tired, it's also too late.

Enjoy your ride, you're more than capable of it and expect on your first 100 miler to ache like hell the next day, eat all the right foods at home (preferably within an hour of getting home) and sleep well. Don't get on the bike next day.

 

[roadracerash1]

Good pointers on the sportive advice but another thing I've also forgotten to mention is that I've started an apprenticeship as a nutritionalist. So I've done alot of leg work on bodily nutrition so I should be ay okay with that side . I wasn't too sure If i was just pushing myself too much or I was missing something important thats all. Anyway back to this whole "gym" thing. I only go to work on my core and other muscle groups that cyclist can neglect If the riders technique isn't quite there yet i.e. your calves/gastrocnemius muscle group which you use on the up stroke as appose to your quadricepts which are prodominantly used during the downstroke. I read in cycling magazines such as "cycling plus" that a good foundation to achieving your cycling goals be that be working on sprinting, or if your like me you'll be doing hill work, that certain training off the bike such as core development is recommended. Are all the articles wrong about doing power planks and abdominal crunches to improve performance I'f so many people are advicing others to turn away from the gym and spend the whole time training on a bike?

 

[black'n'yellow]

I would ignore any training advice you read in Cycling Plus and in particular I would ignore anyone who tries to tell you that gym work will improve your cycling performance. Nothing you do in the gym will improve your cycling. Cycling will improve your cycling. Power planks and abdominal crunches will not get you round a 100-mile bike ride. A good, properly-trained aerobic base will.

 

[smutchin]

I read in cycling magazines such as "cycling plus" that a good foundation to achieving your cycling goals be that be working on sprinting, or if your like me you'll be doing hill work, that certain training off the bike such as core development is recommended. ... If so many people are advicing others to turn away from the gym and spend the whole time training on a bike?

You're over-thinking it. You're doing a sportive, not the Tour de France. Just go out and enjoy riding your bike. And when you get tired, have a rest. That's about as scientific as your training needs to be.

Don't get too hung up on the nutrition thing either - just remember to keep your energy topped up with regular eating and drinking (gels and powders are fine but so is normal food - use whatever suits you best) and you'll be reet.

d.

 

[smutchin]

Oh, and another thing...

if your like me you'll be doing hill work, that certain training off the bike such as core development is recommended.

The only way to get good at riding up hills is... riding up hills. Lots.

And if you need to lose a bit of weight, that will help too. (You say you're 72kg, which isn't really overweight, but depends on your height... I was about 75kg myself at the start of the year, now I'm 67kg and finding hills a fair bit easier. Don't think I'd want to get much lighter though. I'm 176cm tall.)

d.

 

[smutchin]

Just re-read the OP and realised that you're already shedding the pounds... losing weight as quickly as you have done will be the main reason why you're tired, rather than your exercise regime, which isn't really excessive for someone your age.

Doing as much riding as you're doing, you really shouldn't cut out the carbs - they provide the bulk of the energy you need to keep riding.

Try to slow down the rate of weight loss - 1kg per week is sensible (edit: got my conversion factors completely wrong - 0.5-1lb a week is sensible, ie 250-500g). Using a tool such as myfitnesspal to keep track of your calorie intake can help.

d.

 

[brockers]

You're over-thinking it. You're doing a sportive, not the Tour de France. Just go out and enjoy riding your bike. And when you get tired, have a rest. That's about as scientific as your training needs to be..

A-bloody-men to that !!!