New Excercise Regimes STW

What has that first two weeks of the program included? I would imagine it's maybe been 3 hours total each week? I don't see how that would have a fatiguing effect so I'd be looking at other causes.

My plan for this year is to get back to riding more than running, hopefully back to bikepacking too. I pretty much gave that up while getting fit enough for some long runs last year.

Yeah it's 3hrs each week, on days I'm not running I'm walking the dog around 3 miles with 1 day on the weekend a 5 mile hike.<br /><br />I must admit watching some bikepacking stuff on youtube it does look tempting

Have a look at your diet. I suffer terribly from cantbearsedsyndrome and its definitely worse when ive eaten a bit too much at lunch or tea. Little and often is the way to go (as everyone says) but i love food and moderating volume is my downfall.

I also find very easy exercises such as yoga for 2o mins a good way to trick myself into being more active. Or going for a very gentle spin on zwift whilst listening to an audiobook. Nothing too hard. Once i get going i then find it a lot easier to ramp up the effort.

For me 50% is how I think and get my arse in gear, the other 50% is the exercise and I find the mental aspects harder than the physical!

James

That's next to nowt, eatmorepizza, but you're probably fine as it's just the system shock of a new sort of exercise. Stick with it aiming for consistency above everything else.

More generally, though, training does come with fatigue and just not generally feeling fantastic a lot of the time. Hard training puts you on the edge of illness. It's worth it, though, for the periods when things go well and you feel strong AF.
Some folk on here are properly strong on the bike, race winners, and you assume they must be walking round feeling like Iron Man day to day. But if you ask them they'd probably tell you the opposite.

I'm using Garmin coach.too also on week 2. It's for a 1/2 marathon distance in May. I'm reasonably fit and regularly run 5km on treadmill at constant pace. The coaching changes of pace are noticeably harder then just slogging out 5km.

The only advice I can offer is find something you enjoy doing, far more chance of you sticking with it.

I don't enjoy running so I don't, infact I don't enjoy exercising if it's just for the sake of it.

At the moment I lift heavy things up and put them down again and really enjoy it, no idea why as it's quite boring :D. I cycle, commuting and the odd weekend and I try and get out on my enduro bike (motorbike) as often as possible. The enduro bike probably gives me the biggest workout, properly knackered after a day out.

I wish I could enjoy swimming but I'm not very good and it's boring, I just like the idea. I found rock climbing a good work out.

Not sure where I was going with that lot, I seem to have just rambled on 😀

Stretches will also be important. I find my hip flexors get painful and tight. Also plantar fasciitis (sp?) But I'm ignoring that for now as nothing seems to be helping.

The biggest gain I've found is using Training Peaks to plan training around life and my targeted events for the year (audaxes and long gravel rides). This coupled with a proper purchased training plan (BCA through the app), working in effort (power) and time per week which means I can ride whichever bike I feel like and forget about chasing "mileage".

I started it this year and my mental and physical health is the best it's been.

I was overtraining, not getting enough rest (rest days per week and 1 rest week in 4). I now have a good structure to follow. The coaching plan alternates hard/easy workouts and enables me to skip the odd workout if I'm not feeling it or I scale down if I'm tired. I can swap rest days to fit in with home life as I'm working to weekly targets.

Working towards an overall goal provides a great focus. I wanted to have a good rounded fitness so following a gran fondo training plan (targeted at my "masters" age group) builds base endurance, aerobic efforts and the odd max effort. I just want to be fit enough to ride my bike all day.

Sounds condescending so feel free to disagree aggressively....

But it's amazing how much mindset can affect your physical performance especially if you don't particularly look forward to it. I bet that when you get up and go for it on your training sessions you feel way better for it. I am also in the "not a fan of running" camp when riding is more fun, faster and I feel like a Cool Dude (tm). However I have begrudgingly accepted that running is considerably less faff to prepare for, all you really need to do is put your trainers on. You can get a decent workout in half the time of an evening ride too, and you just gotta do it unfortunately.

Have you tried changing when you go out? I tried for so long to be a Type A "go and exercise before work" person but the majority of the time I failed to leave the bed - and when I did I felt flat and slow and half asleep still no matter how much sleep I got. Even on weekends I don't generally like to get out and do whatever before 9am really.

I'm now pretty happy with being a "do stuff after work" guy though this does come with the negative of a slightly later dinner and is more prone to plans changing. And I don't have kids so imagine that would be tricky too. I just need to make sure that when I get home from work the first thing I do is change into whatever active wear is required and do not sit down or potter too much.

OP, if your target is 'a' 5k and have a target time I guess you're doing more than that distance and doing intervals? How many days a week and how much distance? What is the body battery saying? Aside from dog walking what other exercise? Are you using any supplements?

Were you struggling to find mental and physical energy prior to starting the 5k challenge? If so then definitely look at the underlying issues, whether that's diet, mental or otherwise. Starting to exercise from scratch will take it out of you but shouldn't leave you with an underlying fatigue that goes beyond your bodies recovery period.

I found doing the STW Chub Club last year really helped, firstly it gave me something to aim for (pick a weight loss target over a given time) and because of the public element of it I felt more obliged to keep at it and in turn became more aware of what I was eating, it also meant that when I wasn't feeling it or couldn't be arsed to get out I had that subconscious kick to help me out of the door.

I hate running, but love having had a run. And knowing that makes it a tiny bit easier to drag myself out of the house and getting going.

My challenge for this year is to reach 520km. It's nothing compared to a lot of people's efforts on here but if i can commit to 10k per week albeit one 10k run, 2x 5k run or 5x 2km runs depending on weather and whether (I can be arsed) then i'll have beaten my mileage for last year and hopefully that'll be reflected in my health and performance.

Good luck with the 5k challenge and getting that energy back

FWIW, I absolutely hate the first 2-3km of any run. Once past that, I've warmed up, the muscles have loosened off and I can then carry on for an hour, or two, or three in a very comfortable "flow state". It took me a while to get to that stage and to learn to accept that first 2-3km, but I'm so glad I stuck with it.

I find running really hard if I've not done it regularly for a while, even when I'm properly bike fit. It's more intense, weight bearing and your muscles work differently. I can believe it could push you over a fatigue edge, particularly if you have other stressors in your life. Maybe put some focus on fuelling, post-run nutrition and making sure you get proper recovery.

It might be that the bulk of your cycling is sub-threshold, but running is pushing you into a harder zone and your body is struggling to cope.

So yes, it could be down to the running. But equally it could be coincidental, you might have a low-grade virus or accumulated fatigue to the point where any exercise would push over the edge. Maybe take a few days off and see if you perk up then resume maybe at a slightly lower intensity. There's not point in pushing yourself to achieve an arbitrary target if it just makes you feel rubbish, you need to enjoy the process.

OP, if your target is ‘a’ 5k and have a target time I guess you’re doing more than that distance and doing intervals? How many days a week and how much distance? What is the body battery saying? Aside from dog walking what other exercise? Are you using any supplements?

I'm using Coach Amy, essentially doing 5k distance but running 60 seconds walking for 2 this week, 3x days a week, last week was running 60s walking 3 minutes.
Body battery at the end of each day is usually between 10-25, that drops to 5 if I drink a beer or glass of wine which in turn affects stress levels in sleep and leaves me with less body battery the next day, biggest usual stressor is work, even on days I don't feel stressed it drains a lot, so I'm not convinced the body battery is always right. I have physical energy, but have been lacking on the mental side.

Besides the dog walking and weekend hikes I'm not doing anything else currently no, haven't been riding for a while as the trails and bridleways are a mess from the horses being up my local in bad weather. Debating getting a kettlebell or two for swinging about during short breaks in the home office, also got a bit of knee pain so been doing those squats where you squat against a wall this week.

Supplements I'm using Inessa advanced multivits

Those are some high end multivitamins!

Might be worth getting to your gp for a blood test. The total exhaustion thing even after sleep could be a vit D, B12 or iron deficiency that needs a bit more of a boost to overcome than a multivitamin can provide. Or, if you’re a woman, maybe HRT is in order.

Have a look at your diet.

I would echo this. Doesn't have to be perfect, but what you describe could be a lack of the good stuff, or too much processed shite at unsuitable hours of the day.

What's your sleep quality like?

I think most of the explanation might be found in your username. 😂

Have a look at your diet.

Generally speaking my diets been terrible for years, I love food, hence the username 😂

Have been eating better for a good 3 months though and being more organised. Before this I'd usually not eat breakfast, grab something quick like a pot noodle or pop out to grab a pasty for lunch and then a good few times out the week after walking the dog and doing chores it's 8pm, the mrs would get home after a long day being held back and neither of us wanted to stand in the kitchen and cook, so probably a few too many takeaways, one of the motivating factors on that is I tallied up how much we were spending on them each month and we both agreed it was outrageous.

I try to be consistent now until weekends where routine goes out the window so mon-fri usually consists of:

Breakfast: Cherries and blueberries with fat free greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast 3/5 days, jam and a slice of toast 2/5 days.

Lunch: 2 or 3 /5 Days usually a salad with home made dressing using honey, sesame oil and balsamic vinegar with a skinless chicken thigh, packet of crisps and a banana or apple, one day I'll have a ham and coleslaw sandwhich with crisps and a snack size milky way bar or a bueno, and then usually one day I'll make some ramen with rice noodles, often has some chicken, spring onions, mushrooms and sauces in like soy sauce, sweet chilli, miso paste or vege stock pot etc

Dinner: Varies, we're eating goustos 5/5 days but always cooking fresh now

Weekends: it varies but usually 1 takeaway, 1 meal out, and a home cooked sunday dinner, usually eat brunch which is often a sandwhich or home cooked (grilled) brekkie bun.

I do snack inbetween this mind odd extra pack of crisps here or there, choccy bar, try to eat fruit where possible but I do have a bit of a sweet tooth after dinner, managed to get through half a sharing pack of skittles watching trigger point last night.

It's not a great diet I'll admit, but it's better than it has been and I never used to feel this lethargic so often!

You're still telling your body that sugar is available (eg Skittles-fest in the evening), so your body is going 'WTF? Where's my processed sugar?' the following morning. High sugar snacking late at night will also affect your sleep quality, so your body is doubly pissed off with you.

I'm the same. Terrible sweet tooth. Unfortunately, the answer for me has been to spend some time at low carbs, so my body is not always looking for me to provide a Twix at 3pm or whatever, but gets better at using other energy sources.

Today, I had a coffee with a splash of double cream at 8am, and didn't crave anything until 4pm. Which included a 2-hour ride. That's unusual, normally I'll not have breakfast but have something for lunch. But the difference is that before, what I thought was my body telling me it was hungry was just an energy low, so I'd snack, whereas now, I don't get those highs and lows, and when I get the 'I'm hungry' message, it's genuine and far more obvious.

Probably nothing to worry about, and I've mentioned this on here before...

Two years ago, I found myself being really tired all of the time; just had no energy at all and couldn't get going with exercise. I went to my doctor: he said I was stressed out with work. But I wasn't. Three months later I was diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer (stage 4).

I'd suggest getting your GP to run tests to exclude any underlying illness or other problems. Then get your diet sorted!

^^^Great advice @stanley!
I think everything has already been covered above.
Diet is the obvious one, growing up, my Mom used to tell us that you are what you eat. This is so true, food is fuel and if you want your body at optimum levels then you need to fuel it properly.
As far as exercise, find something you really enjoy, gradually increase the distance and intensity, go as hard or easy depending on how you feel on any given day but also think about recovery and how you can improve it.
After the first 100 days Challenge, probably about 4 years ago, I made a deal with myself that I would try to exercise for an hour every day with the hope of maintaining a decent level of strength and fitness in my next half century.
I run, cycle, do weights and resistance training, mix it up depending on how I’m feeling but over time I’ve learned that rest and recovery is really important. To aid recovery, walking is essential, I stretch every day and use a foam roller to iron out any niggles.
Exercise is my therapy and I love the buzz of endorphins. I have just formed a habit and it is now something I do without thinking.