The physiology of fatigue is so fascinating to me, especially on the neurological level. I’ll admit that (for personal reasons) I have researched the neurophysiological side of fatigue/performance/function more than other areas covered here.
Crafting an article on how individuals should respond to x/y/z sign of fatigue is difficult, hence the lack of direct actionable information given in this post. Worth noting that just about everyone I work with at Wahoo/SUF know that my first response to any question is “It Depends.”
That being said, I can certainly see a follow up post this (or even full article) on what to do when you notice you are experiencing 3+ of your “fatigue indicators.”
For now all I can say to those experiencing excess fatigue (or slower than expected recovery) right now.
Sleep is your #1 recovery tool. If sleeping in an extra 30 minutes means missing an easy-moderate training session pick sleep. If it means missing a really hard session when you are feeling highly fatigued, pick sleep.
Active Recovery is your friend. The only time I ever “yell” at athletes I coach 1-1 is when they ride too hard during a recovery day. Seriously, if you’re scheduled for an easy spin, ride easy. I have seen power files from riders who have worn leaders jerseys and rainbow stripes, and almost all of them end up averaging under 100W. As a percentage of FTP that is VERY low for this riders. (embarrassingly slow as Neal would put it).
Hopefully you feel like you are bouncing back at this point! That does not mean you are fully recovered, simply that your body is absorbing the hard efforts you put in. I wouldn’t expect anyone (who completed the Tour at (or close to) Nuclear to stick their head above ground for another 4-7 days.
Ride the ToS on Focused Option and after a few days relative rest, easy but long on Sunday, Monday day off, Tuesday day off. By Wednesday I felt itchy…
I needed some outdoor power numbers, the weather was great, so I did my regular PowerTest on my regular testing ground. I broke all kinds of power records, including my alltime 5 minute one 
Rode easy on Thursday, took a day off on Friday ( busy workday) and smashed everything today on a 100km ride !! 90min all time power record !!!
Sufferfest recovery
Recovery is important and take note of how you feel ?
Sir Mac! Apologies only just read this thread… would it be useful to fill in form from this point? Very happy to do so…
Just filled in form in case it is useful
I’m just glad my HRV has gone up a wee bit.
The trend downwards during recovery has been halted by a FF day 
back up a bit this morning as a result.
For those people who go too strong on Active Recovery, would it not be better if they just did not ride at all that day?
Thanks for a great write up @Coach.Mac.C.
On that note:
https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/the-story-of-failed-full-frontal-aka-fatigue-sets-in/9124?u=phantomski
I completely misread the form and thought it had a date on it, allowing it to be filled in retrospectively. I’ve been very busy this week so planned to fill it all in over the weekend just gone (I have everything logged elsewhere so it is just a case of copying over). Is that possible to do? I’m happy to provide a full history.
L
Looking forward to finding out what you’ve learned from us.
I’ve been tracking my resting HR for a couple of years now (automatically with Fitbit tracker) and find it a pretty reliable indicator of fatigue. For example I recently did a hard 3 day online endurance event and my RHR went up from 63 to 68 by the end of the event and stayed at 68 for a couple of days afterward before dropping back down to 63.
I’m pretty sure I was also carrying a bug leading up to the event as my usual RHR is around 59-60 and it had gone up to 65 in the week before for no obvious reason and I did feel slightly off form. So I took it easy this week and now feeling much better for it.
I also really notice how my sleep quality suffers with fatigue. During this same event my sleep score on Fitbit dropped a little and I was struggling to fall asleep. A few days later I’m back to normal.
I’ve never tried monitoring HRV and don’t really think it would add much to what I already measure and feel with RHR and sleep monitoring.
Hey, noticed the form is still active. Are you still collecting data?
Good question! I’m still submitting my data.
Is the fact that I can’t move from my sofa a sign and symptom of fatigue ?? #morethanyou … power hour.
I have completed the form every day. For the last two days I’ve not received an email back following completion of the form. I guess it’s closed now, and I should await the summary, rather than continue completing it?
Sorry in advance if I missed something in the thread regarding a cutoff date. Thanks
I found mine in my junk folder.
Thanks - just found the last 3 days’ email returns there previously they were not junked by my email app! All the best
Ok, I’m noticing an impact of the daylight savings time switch here in the US. HRV down 
RHR up 
.
Anyone else?
You know, you could try leveraging your Wahoo-status to maybe fast track a bit more data collection. All in the name of science - and to benefit the end user, at some point.
Let people opt-in to make their RIVAL watch data available to you. Part of it should already be on some server. I‘m pretty sure with a small software-tweak this would be possible.
I‘d love to see the day when SUF pivots in this direction.
Only thing I‘m not sure about is if the sensor is able to detect usable r-r intervals. Sadly, the watch doesn’t seem to work with EliteHRV even in HR transmission-mode - this would make my life so much easier.
Would it make sense for the service to eventually include a fitness-fatigue-RPE model that results in automatic adjustments of training plans?
Cheers!