health question. beat tired, no energy

[look 171]

Stopped riding my bike for about 2.5 weeks. Yesterday morning, I went out with a the same group that like to turn the gas on, so I tried like hell to keep up for about 70% of the ride. Lots of heavy sprinting over shorts hills just to keep up. Finally, it done me in. For the rest of the day, I felt ok, a bit tired and did normally stuff around the house. This morning, I went out for a easy spin trying to loosen my legs. I felt fine. Come afternoon, I was waxed. Legs are sore to the point of just want to sit and not move. I am also out of breath just from skipping u[ over a few steps. I have never felt this bad after a good beating. Is it onset of something to come health wise? I do need to lose 10-15lbs.

[nostatic]

I found that I lose fitness very quickly if I'm not exercising regularly. So 2.5 weeks could mean a big drop in performance. You fight through on the first day, then pay the bill on the second day.

Losing weight likely will help, but you can't really win against father time. That said, I'm working with a chiro/accupuncture/PT guy who is 69 and in ridiculous shape. He's helping to reverse my "premature aging" (his words) from going hard for many years and not doing the stuff to help recover. He's in Culver City if you're interested.

[Baz]

I've noticed sometimes I go through some variations in energy and endurance capability.

For me it seems to be linked somewhat to my mental state but I also believe in biorhythms controlling us.

The other factor (for me) has always been how much sleep I get....and how well I'm sleeping!

[look 171]

Todd,

I will be 50, so I hear ya about losing fitness. It was the Montrose ride.

Tell me about recovery after doing hard for many years?

[vash]

mild Mono relapse?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Baz

I've noticed sometimes I go through some variations in energy and endurance capability.

For me it seems to be linked somewhat to my mental state but I also believe in biorhythms controlling us.

The other factor (for me) has always been how much sleep I get....and how well I'm sleeping!

Sleep is great. I get 6-7 hours when I go out and exercise. I can't seem to sleep more then 7 hours

[look 171]

Originally Posted by vash

mild Mono relapse?

hahaha

I am glad you think its mild. Sure felt like its full on.

[911dean]

2.5 weeks away from cardio takes a toll on cardio endurance/performance levels. I lose it quickly but fortunately it comes back quickly also. Right now I'm struggling to get back into the cardio routine. I feel best when cardio is a part of a normal routine.
I have no problems with the strength training, as of right now I have 9 straight consistent years easily averaging 4 times a week.

[Tobra]

Even at the ripe old age of 50, you probably ought to recover faster than that, even after a few weeks layoff. Go look in the mirror, pull your lower lid down and look at what color it is. Does it look pale? When was the last time you got a physical? How is your diet, what did you eat after your first ride back in the saddle?

[BGCarrera32]

2.5 weeks can do it. But, other than its probably nothing, when is the last time you had a full set of labs done?

Get a full lipid reflex panel (cholesterol), Hemoglobin A1C, fasting Glucose, etc. Get a baseline to see if anything is going on.

If you don't have baseline metrics and a training log the opinions are all peeing in the wind.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by look 171

Todd,

I will be 50, so I hear ya about losing fitness. It was the Montrose ride.

Tell me about recovery after doing hard for many years?

So I certainly did plenty of partying during the "lost years" between HS and college. And I played competitive sports starting at age 8 up until retiring my softball cleats in 2009. Add in bike crashes, motorcycle crashes, hauling music gear, etc and you get a lot of wear and tear on the body. Over time certain muscles get weak and other ones continually spasm essentially messing with posture and range of motion. In my case, hips (bad Rose Bowl crash in '92) connect to the back (too many to recall) connect to the shoulder (surfing and throwing) connect to the elbow connect to the wrist.

What finally drove me to find another doc was wrist pain that made it so playing music was not pleasant. Since that is about the only thing keeping me sane, I figured I needed to figure out how to fix it. First doc said likely arthritis, have an appoint with my ortho, but a bass player buddy of mine suggested this other chiro/PT/accupuncture guy. He basically said that all the years of exercise without then stretching out afterwards and rest/ice/etc was coming home to roost. Essentially at age 54 some of my joints think they are closer to 74.

He said the wrist is actually one of the thumb muscles that has been in constant spasm for years and has been slowly wasting away from lack of circulation. Exacerbating that is the shoulder, which has rotated forward and now I have tight chest muscles and weakened back muscles.

Bottom line is that after just 3 sessions of deep (and painful) massage and stretching exercises (for the thumb, and variation on the "zen archer" yoga position), I'm already feeling a benefit. He says I can essentially "get younger" and get my body back to where it should be - just takes doing the work with the stretching and being rigorous about posture, position, etc.

Long winded way to say, "if you play, then you better stretch and rest afterwards...you aren't 30 forever."

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Even at the ripe old age of 50, you probably ought to recover faster than that, even after a few weeks layoff. Go look in the mirror, pull your lower lid down and look at what color it is. Does it look pale? When was the last time you got a physical? How is your diet, what did you eat after your first ride back in the saddle?

Diet is ok, but not great. Too much pasta and rice (have a hard time cutting paste back large portions of pasta) but no fried foods and no soda, no fast food. Normally I recover without issues and are ready to do it again the next day. I had a two slices of wheat bread right after the ride. Trying to ditch a few pounds.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by nostatic

So I certainly did plenty of partying during the "lost years" between HS and college. And I played competitive sports starting at age 8 up until retiring my softball cleats in 2009. Add in bike crashes, motorcycle crashes, hauling music gear, etc and you get a lot of wear and tear on the body. Over time certain muscles get weak and other ones continually spasm essentially messing with posture and range of motion. In my case, hips (bad Rose Bowl crash in '92) connect to the back (too many to recall) connect to the shoulder (surfing and throwing) connect to the elbow connect to the wrist.

What finally drove me to find another doc was wrist pain that made it so playing music was not pleasant. Since that is about the only thing keeping me sane, I figured I needed to figure out how to fix it. First doc said likely arthritis, have an appoint with my ortho, but a bass player buddy of mine suggested this other chiro/PT/accupuncture guy. He basically said that all the years of exercise without then stretching out afterwards and rest/ice/etc was coming home to roost. Essentially at age 54 some of my joints think they are closer to 74.

He said the wrist is actually one of the thumb muscles that has been in constant spasm for years and has been slowly wasting away from lack of circulation. Exacerbating that is the shoulder, which has rotated forward and now I have tight chest muscles and weakened back muscles.

Bottom line is that after just 3 sessions of deep (and painful) massage and stretching exercises (for the thumb, and variation on the "zen archer" yoga position), I'm already feeling a benefit. He says I can essentially "get younger" and get my body back to where it should be - just takes doing the work with the stretching and being rigorous about posture, position, etc.

Long winded way to say, "if you play, then you better stretch and rest afterwards...you aren't 30 forever."

I am not very good at stretching. Throw the bike back in the car and go home jump in the shower and that's about it. None before the ride. I just might have to take you up on this guy. I need someone to force myself to do these essential stretching exercises.

Since I last type on here, I felt asleep on the floor for a couple of hours while the kids had dinner. Finally I got up and washed the dishes and feeling great again. Got all my energy back like normal. Legs are still sore as hell. Uphill off the saddle chasing is not good for old dog like me.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by look 171

I am not very good at stretching. Throw the bike back in the car and go home jump in the shower and that's about it. None before the ride.

You will likely live to regret that

Ice and stretching are your friends...

[look 171]

Todd, did this chiro guy teach you how to stretch property or is it from Yoga?

Ice? you ice your muscles after strenuous exercise?

[nostatic]

He taught me the stretches.

I often ice my hands/forearms after I play a gig (actually dunk/soak in cold water). And if I really am working hard, sometimes the back gets ice as well.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Ha! You fried yourself!
I wouldn't sweat it at this point.
Take a day or two off, and then get back into the short light spinning thing- like you did on you recovery ride, and then slowly introduce some cardio into it, and build back up mileagewise before the next sufferfest. Think of it like a badly sprained ankle, you would take it super easy,and even so, it's gonna be sore, because it's damaged. Consider your leg muscles and your cardiovascular as two separate entities- pay attention to both. If you feel anything isn't right, just like with a sprained ankle- back off. You damaged your 50 y.o. self!

If you aren't feeling so hot when ramping back up cardiovascular-then get checked out, but you will be fine. You could also have some light virus thing going on too, and I totally agree with how people will have overall peaks and valleys. I think you got yourself a perfect storm of crap going wrong at once.

If I haven't been riding, I notice if I go into something anearobic cold turkey (even with a warmup) my performance is way off and I suffer. I always seem to do better (If I haven't been riding regular) when I do short ride the day before embarking on a 20-50 mile anearobic sufferfest type ride.

[jhynesrockmtn]

At what level were you before you laid off for 2.5 weeks? I agree at 50ish fitness can be lost quickly. It happened to me this year with fires causing real bad air quality and I was off my bike for several weeks. But, I'll suggest being careful with it and maybe seeing a doc. I lost one of my best buddies and a riding partner last year to a rare form of lymphoma. He started feeling fatigued last year in June and started seeing the doc. One of the fittest guys I've known. He eventually got diagnosed in August and passed in October. Don't ignore things if your energy and recovery don't improve quickly.

[Tobra]

He said the wrist is actually one of the thumb muscles that has been in constant spasm for years and has been slowly wasting away from lack of circulation.

He told you "lack of circulation" with a straight face? Oh, and the wrist is a collection of joints.

OP needs to go get some blood work done.

[recycled sixtie]

What Tobra says makes sense - blood work. And what do you weigh?

My fil used to say when you hit 50 then energy levels start to reduce.

Guy