Reversing a 15 month decline …

I’m pleased that I had read these before and that this made me read them again.

Favourite quote:
“ What does this mean for all of us getting older? To put it simply: use it or lose it”

Second favourite bit was the comment about STR on upper baxk to help posture …… sooooo true.
A friend of mine has been trying to help me with that for 9 months in amongst STR work in general (I still can’t do a squat properly though and probably never will)

Try doing goblet squats with a light kettle bell. I found they really REALLY sorted my range of movement out in the squat. Then when I went back to the bar, I started with front rather than back squats and liftong my toes and driving my weight thriugh my heels. I also lift in socks. Not shoes, which helps me but I appreciate it doesn’t help everyone.

Plus yoga. Lots and lots of yoga.

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@Martin Try doing a yoga squat every day. Start with a few attempts to situate the position, then once you get to the position try to hold it for 10 to 30 seconds and from there increase your time in the position and work on getting your chest up.

Below are links to two videos: one talking about the benefits of the position and the other from @abicarver with some suggested positions to do in front of the TV with yoga squat as #9.

Once you are able to hold the position your back and front squat will improve significantly and you will find lots of other benefits on the bike as well.

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Hope you sort it out. Loads of things spring to mind as potential causes but it will be hard to say exactly what on a forum. I’m sure the coach will help you out. The most obvious thing for me was when did you last take a decent rest from the bike? It’s difficult to do as you will likely lose more fitness in the short term, but it bounces back quicker and hopefully you’ll end up stronger than ever!

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Thanks for this. I should have been more specific. I can’t even do that. Not even if someone holds my arms for me :rofl::rofl:
It’s an ankle mobility issue that’s over 50 years old sadly. And apparently I’m not alone. Even with big heeled running shoes on I have ankle blocks that prevent my lower legs bending far enough forward. It’s not uncommon, but it’s also rarely talked about. Most people just go down on their haunches without much thought. Those that can’t develop new motor patterns to compensate - rarely with beneficial results :smiling_face_with_tear:

I remember ski coaches complaining I wasn’t bending my knees. But that was ski coaches who, because they could squat, or bend their leg much further forward, had no idea there are people who’s ankles are the problem.

I look back on that with almost amusement these days but that’s another conversation about devices for babies that existed 5 decades ago that lead to ankle issues.

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I should add though @JSampson that you are spot on … I work on my ankles often. Very specific exercise to try and gain a few more mm’s movement on the wall test …

Really should scrub the garage floor before taking pictures ……

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One of the things I use to avoid overreaching and thus overtraining is Heart Rate Variability. I started about three months ago and have seen positive results from this. Friday was a great example (that’s yesterday folks). I rode to the Stretchies ride and home at a Tempo pace. I’ve not been able to do that for over a year. I want to up my riding level. Today, I was stuffed up (possible head cold). HRV was way down from yesterday. So, no ride and lots of fluids and other stuff. You might want to start recording HRV and see where that leaves you. Yes, it gets recorded on TP as well.

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Hey Martin, I’ve been battling something similar and received much of the same advice, which is spot on.

Since early January:

Took time off from structured training

Did 2 strength only plans

Consulted with PCP, did blood work… we stopped an allergy medicine, I’ve been getting up 30 minutes later, following advice to keep indoor bike workouts to 30 minutes M-F, added meditation.

Had some improvements to fatigue, now doing the transition up plan.

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I am glad that you were able to use HRV. I tried using it (with my Garmin) and I never had great success with it helping to understand my level of fatigue.

After every ride, I note in TP how I felt, and my perceived RPE, as well as any notes that I feel are important. You might try at least noting your work or other life stress there.

I use EliteHRV. I could never get the junk in Garmin to work, let alone be of any value. Been using it for years because the usual indicators weren’t working from TrainingPeaks.

I didn’t know it was called Yoga Squat, but I started doing that almost everyday a few years ago as a stretch. You don’t have to stay still; you can push your knees out, move your feet around, and move your upper body. I had a trainer who told me that it is the go to relaxation position for less modernized humans and that we modernized humans have largely forgotten the movement pattern. When I started, I had trouble getting all the way down due to hip and ankle tightness and couldn’t stay there for very long. Over months, maybe years, I gained flexibility and can now claim it as a comfortable way to be still. It has improved my pedal stroke by increasing ankle flexibility. It massively improved my squat form. It’s helped increase hip mobility and relieved some chronic tightness. Try it!

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I do this actually. Daily commentary on stress and fatigue in the notes, plus the associated metrics. Daily HR and bloody pressure. I actually gave up in hrv. Like you it gave me no success. It was a great postdictor of amount of sleep though.

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Which subscription do you have to EliteHRV?
Can it sync the results to Training Peaks?

Yes you are in the red, but not as bad as if you were overtrained.

According to Friel, the sign of overreaching is performance degradation. The sign of overtraining includes abornal resting heat rate, weight loss, change in apetitie, chronic fatigue and soreness, mood changes, change in physiological systems (such as menstrual cycle or lower immune response) among others.

There are professional athletes that had to retire because of severe overtraining. The problem is that to improve we sometimes need to be on the edge of overreaching.

I took a look at Wild.AI, and it looks impressive. I am glad that it works for you. All these systems are based on population statistics and everybody does not always match up well.

There is an irony in my writing this today. I was fatigued, and I should have known better but I attempted to do Sub-Threshold with Surges 4x12 which is a 2.5 hour workout.

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I have the “free” subscription. Yes you can sync to TrainingPeaks, fir a one-time fee. I manually input it along with other information.

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Thank you so much for sharing this article Jon. Squatting ass to grass (so to speak!) is definitely something that comes with months of practice. But it is such a great one for mobility.

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Please use this sentence in your next Yoga video :smile:

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Hehe. Might be a little jarring!

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Hey - thanks for the reply ErickT - appreciate that.
That sounds similar
To a session I made last summer when I stopped structured (bike)training and picked up more formal STR work. I was ‘tested out’ in Q1/2 last year and needed a break.