Since I’ve had my summer vacation and I didn’t cycle for a month in August. I feel like I’m just not in control over my progression after the vacation.
My legs are hurting when I wanna go full gas. But my heart rate doesn’t go all the way anymore. Like for instance before I could get a maximum heart rate of 200 and now I’m barely getting 185ish. Has this to do with my VO2max which is lower?
When I started cycling 3 years ago I didn’t had any problems with going as fast as I could. Or is it al in the mind.
Is this something that will come back with training and need to focus on the endgame or is there a way to train or something else.
Heart Rate not getting up is a classic sign of overtraining but you haven’t been lately and there’s nothing you’ve said to indicate that might have been the case before summer. But, if you were under heavy block periodization of HIIT before summer, that could be the case and you could still be suffering months later, even years. Then too, you could be overdoing HIIT now.
HIIT really isn’t something you need to do more than a couple times a week. No pain, no gain is a dead philosophy. Block periodization is a very risky move which can have long lasting consequences and has laid low world class cyclists. It’s not just “sore” muscles.
Nothing to do with VO2 Max as you explain the circumstances.
When I want to check up on my training, I don’t run ramp or FTP tests. I run Efficiency comparisons against past efforts which are done at Zone 2 or I might compare Power to Heart Rate at Threshold outputs, both of which can be run easily for long periods of time. I recently took a whole week off because my heart rate and power efficiency completely disconnected. Surprised me that I hadn’t deliberately taken a week off in recent memory until I remembered that I had, when I injured my hip. It took that to get me off the bike. This time at least it was a conscious decision. We have to know our limitations.
Thank you for your response. I haven’t done a lot of HIIT specifically. The JOIN app, which provides my training schedules, actually focuses a lot on polarized training. How do you go about tracking efficiency with previous efforts in Zone 2 or comparing Power-to-Heart Rate at threshold level? Do you use a particular app or system for that, or which data do you rely on? Do you have an example? Then I could compare data from before my holiday and now to see what’s happening.
This known as ‘sub max’ performance measurement.
Best is to use a Power target and measure HR response for that effort. Could be a target anywhere from low Z2 to Z4. Just do a fixed interval duration and compare HR for the Power target. If your performance gets better, HR response will lower in time.
It’s a nice, non-exhaustive way of tracking your progress.
If you import your rides with heart rate and power, there are many resources in Intervals that can drill down into that data in ways @MedTechCD just described. There’s not much that can be done without any data. There are numerous ways in which your training journey can be analyzed, but without data there are very few.
Decoupling is a data point that can be derived from a long Zone 2 ride. The are many help resources in this site as well as information from simply clicking on everything, everywhere. Many coaches here too. I’ve found the search function in this forum to be particularly helpful.
The problem with training plans is that without a coach, a good deal of personal knowledge of fitness and a healthy dose of skepticism, you may not be getting the results you expect.
As the experts mentioned, it’s a good idea to compare your current training indicators with sessions from when you felt in good shape. In my case, I compare the heart rate (HR) on my Zone 2 runs over the same route before and after summer. I also have a 20-minute threshold workout I always do in the same place, making it easy to compare my HR and pace between similar workouts. After summer, I noticed that my HR for easy, long-run efforts was much higher, which helped me realize I needed a break to recharge.
I took four days off and then resumed training with a different approach, focusing on very easy efforts. For two weeks, I stayed in Zone 2 for both running and biking, then gradually introduced some Zone 4 efforts. Eventually, I regained my good sensations, and my HR for Zone 2 long runs returned to pre-summer levels.
Keep in mind that even if you’re not training hard over the summer, vacations can still be exhausting, especially if you’re traveling or partying a lot.
My advice would be to take it easy for a couple of weeks and be patient.
