Possible Overtraining

Training
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For the Coaches:

My question for further discussion is simple; How to know when we are pushing too hard for too long?

Lately I have been struggling with my HR and Resting HR: Resting always in the 90 - 100 bpm range while on the bike I see that even after chit-chat pauses (5 minutes long) my HR stays above 130 bpm while my mates are roaming 80 - 90 bpm. I visited a cardiologist to check things out and before a 24hr Holter check I took a 2 weeks break off the bike, mostly doing yoga workouts and keeping up with the strength training plan. Result: 70 bpm resting HR, the cardiologist thought I was nuts.

Afterwards I took my bike again and started riding, resulting in the same previous situation. I feel the friends I ride with are much stronger than me so I push hard for the entire duration of the ride (plus I feel bad not taking my turn at the head of the column and face the wind).

Might this be a sign of too much cardiovascular load?
Should I aim for another break and follow a Training Plan with solo rides?

Cheers!

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Above 130bpm after 5 minutes of rest is indeed high (well, age has an influence, but that’s high).

For the record, my Garmin alerts me with “too high heart rate at rest” if I have > 100bpm during non-activity.

What you’re night (real resting) HR? For me that’s the one that tells me I’m overtraining (it starts creeping up).

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Hi Renaldo,

A resting HR of 90-100 is pretty high. Is that truly rested? ie overnight, or sitting very comfortably on a couch while thinking happy (relaxing) thoughts?
130 seems to high if you are stationary for 5 minutes too.
I think your suggestion of having a break and using at training plan is a very good idea. They are designed to push you without breaking you. You won’t get stronger without any rest times!
Also, if you use Strava, then you can go to http://intervals.icu and link it to your Strava account. You get a pretty good idea of how hard you are pushing yourself.

Chris

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Thanks for the intervals.icu recommendation Chris.
Indeed, when I say resting HR I mean, watching TV resting on the couch, not at night sleeping. I try to avoid surrounding myself with gadgets, I only measure HR while riding and at random occasions at home to see how things are going. The funny thins is, I did To Get To The Other Side and at 160-170 bpm I was able maintain a normal conversation (maybe I have a high rev. heart). Anyways, I will for sure follow with intervals and see how things go, maybe lowering intensity a bit and do more solo rides.

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Hi there. I won’t see mine under 100 if I’m still on the bike …

However this is all very specific to you.
What do you expect your HR to drop to normally when you’re in those phases on the bike?
And comparing with your mates by the way … that’s for the potential To send you in random directions.
I was out yesterday with mates. My HR was easily 20-30 different from the guy next to me.
So the 130bpm question is - what did it used to be?

There are many markers for overtraining that’s you might be able to better use and I think we’d benefit from the coaches listing those.

A few markers for me:

  • unable to get HR up high enough when RPE feels like I’m in VO2
  • resting HR (as in waking up HR) is a bit elevated compared to baseline
  • simply unable to complete SUF workouts at the level I normally do
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Not a coach, not trying to answer, but how are you measuring your HR? Finger on pulse, HR monitor, something else. If an HR monitor then how is it monitoring - chest strap, optical sensor…

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HR Monitor chest strap, from time to time optical sensor.

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You point out some interesting things Sir_Martin.

Actually, I have been just comparing to others and going by feel, e.g., am I agitated during the day? when in bed, does HR freq. bothers me?

Indeed, a coach’s input on signs to look out for when over training will be beneficial for all of us.

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