overtraining

[Michael]

Anyone know any specifics about overtraining? About two months ago, I competed in a 24- hour adventure race, and could barely walk when it was over. I took a couple weeks off (not consecutively). Now, my legs are always sore, unless I stay out of the pool for several days in a row, and then one day back in and they're sore for several more days.

Could my leg muscles still be recovering from a race I did two months ago? Also, do statics build up lactic acid in the legs, because I have been doing a lot more statics recently and though that might be why my legs are always sore.

How long does it take to recover from a state of overtraining and should I quit doing statics?

Thanks.

 

[Roland]

Overtraining is something you get from training repeatedly at a time when you are not yet enough recovered.

What you did was one huge race which was apparently too much since you could barely walk afterwards. This is something different than overtraining but this says nothing about the severity of your problem.

It could be that you are still not recovered from the race. Since it is 2 months ago it is probably best to see a SPORTS doctor. There could be a problem or more rest might do the trick, the sports doctor can tell you.

 

[Alison]

LO
I did a six month course in sports science at the Unversity of Wales Bangor for my job (still cant see the relevance) but it can take up to 7 days to recover from over training which is best avoided because it can be a bacward step from a fittness point of view. This two months later is worrying though, do you stretch before and after exersize? Both important but the post exersise is the biggy, your muscles contract after exersise and if not properly stretched will stay contracted (may be the cause of discomfort).
By statics do you mean isometric training? Sorry its not a term Im familiar with but if it is then yes, it will produce a build up of lactic acid because the muscles are working at maximum intensity continually hence will respire anaerobically after a shorter period than expected. Active rest afterwards and stretching should be the key here. Should you stop? thats up to you, isometrics build up muscle size rather than muscle strength, if it is strength your after you'd be better off with dynamic exersise.
On balance and blind I'd say your problem was lack of stretching post exersise (you need at least 30 seconds per worked muscle group) and as a rule of thumb over taining will give maximum pain after 36 hrs but you will need at least twice that before the torn cells have repaired themselves.
I hope that is of some help, like Roland says see a local specialist but you may find that an hour spent with a personal trainer discussing your training needs would be money well spent.
Ali

 

[jodyfreedive]

I’m no expert, but I think that hormone changes may contribute to the long-term exhaustion some people get after doing ultra endurance activities like you just did. You might want to do some reading on cortisol. The part about you always being sore sounds like too much cortisol to me. There are some supplement companies advertising products to reduce it now.

Also endurance activities have been shown to lower a man’s testosterone. There are also some natural substances to help kick the production of that back to normal.

Another thing you should check is your ph level. Lactic acid and CO2 from doing statics could have decreased ph and made you too acidity which could contribute to your soreness.
Jody

 

[Bill]

Michael
I agree with Roland. Over-training usually involves sleep disorder and fatigue feelings. Pain (good and bad) after workouts is usually damage. Sharp pain is always bad.
There is nothing definite about static, but I feel that it is easy to over-train and I am presently trying to cure a bone degeneration thing that lack of circulation contributed to.
Just my 2 cents.
Aloha
Bill

 

[Roland]

Alison, I think that since this is freediving that Michael is not referring to isometric training but to breath-hold training.

Overtraining can, depending on the kind of overtraining and the severity, take many months to recover. Since however the described problem seems to originate from a single 24-hour race I think overtraining is not the problem but rather a single too streneous exercise. This gives slightly different problems and recovery patterns.

I think that you mean that not overtraining but too rigorous exercice, especialy with excentric contractions gives a peak in muscle ace after 36 hours. After 2 months there is something different going on than a simple muscle stiffness or muscle ace from an exercise done one or two days ago.

Stretching, if properly done, is a good thing both at the beginning of a training during the warmup and also after the training. In this case the underlying problem could mean that it is posible that normal stretching could even worsen the problem.

I would not experiment with medcine without a proper diagnosis. Cortisol (a clucocorticoid) affects the protein metaboism and therefore could also delay the recovery. Experimenting with hormones like testosterone can also have serious side effects and should be done under supervision of a doctor.

By the different answers it should be clear that this is not a simple thing that can be done over the internet. My advice therefore would be to see a sports doctor.

 

[Will]

Is hypoxia catabolic?

I have recently ramped up my training program to the point where overtraining has become a major concern. As I understand in a hypoxic state muscles become extremely acidic, triggering catabolism similar to muscular ketosis during starving. I have recently lost muscle mass, and this waste has shown up in urine being more yellow than normal. I eat a great amount of protein to try and offset this effect, but may still be losing weight.
A physiologist recommended spending no more than an hour a week in apnea. I currently spend about an hour and a half per day…
Has anyone been down this road already and knows the answers?

 

[Michael]

Will,

I started in with a regime of daily creatine intake. The pain in my leg muscles resolved in less than a week, without any diminishment in work load.

 

[kingohyes]

Sore lungs

Hello

Has anyone experienced sore lungs from overtraining? F.ex in statics? I used to train two times a day, and noticed that my lungs ached a bit. Is this normal? It only lasts a day or so... Has anyone else experienced this prob.?

 

[kingohyes]

Re: Is hypoxia catabolic?

Originally posted by Will
I have recently ramped up my training program to the point where overtraining has become a major concern. As I understand in a hypoxic state muscles become extremely acidic, triggering catabolism similar to muscular ketosis during starving. I have recently lost muscle mass, and this waste has shown up in urine being more yellow than normal. I eat a great amount of protein to try and offset this effect, but may still be losing weight.
A physiologist recommended spending no more than an hour a week in apnea. I currently spend about an hour and a half per day…
Has anyone been down this road already and knows the answers?

Hehe i see your problem. The doc surely doesnt understand that if u only spend an hour a week with apnea, your performance goes down, down and down. I train apnea 1 hour a day..
To keep my muscle mass up on a certain level, i train a bit of weightlifting(not much). Also I run much and i dont think that is very good for the musclemass either....... Eat well

 

[Will]

By 'in apnea' the physiologist meant accumulated apnea time/bottom time/dynamic time etc - not including recovery times.

To accumulate 1.5 hours / day 'in apnea' I train for about 3. Warmups, warm downs, flexibility training etc is surplus.
Oh yeah, and most of the 'apnea time' is FRC, which means there is more of it in hypoxia.
Maintaining muscle mass is very difficult, especially when I only eat three meals a day (so as not to train too soon after eating). Those three meals are whoppers though
I may have to return some resistance training to the program, although I am hesitant of anything unspecific to freediving.

 

[Alison]

An important factor in our training is to remember that we are all different and what works for you doesnt nessecerally work for me. I am a heavy smoker, I dont train but still have a respectable static time but I dont think Im any better when I dont smoke (Im not one for timing myself or condoning smoking [silly habit!!]) but what I firmly belive in is finding a routine that works for the individual, however we achieve this but it must be remembered that we are all different and training efficiently is not an easy thing to quantify for an individual. Remember a world champion sprinter does not get to the top by thrashing themself to a pulp on a daily basis! They enlist help from experts and we should do the same. I appreciate this isnt easy and in many cases not practicle but what we can do is to examine our own physiology, and realise that we respire in different ways. Without getting technical we can improve our training by training our respiraton systems in an appropriate way. However once you get close to world class standard we cannot do this ourselves, we will need to enlist proffesional help! not because we are weak but because there are people out there who know bettter than us. So rather than degrade your training what Im saying is to seek some proffesional help, It is out there for you to take advantage of and usually free of charge if you choose wisely

OK sorry another subject close to my heart and I'll probably get flamed for it again
Ali

 

[kingohyes]

Has anyone experienced sore troath? I get it all the time when training statics.