|   Total Meltdown...Any hope? | RF
Mar 7, 2002 3:48 PM | | I was in excellent form at the end of January. I was looking forward to some of the upcoming races and was thinking that I would be really competitive based on my fitness compared to the previous year.
Then the unthinkable happened. I got pneumonia and have been totally out of it for 5 weeks. I wasn't hospitalized, but I was on my back for a good 2 weeks and then weak and sickly for another 2-3 weeks. Started back a little over the last week and the losses are staggering. My leg strength is less than it was at the beginning of my offseason lifting, and I struggled to just to finish a metric century last weekend. Lost 18 lbs, probably most of it muscle.
Any estimates of how long it could take to come around? I have no frame of reference because I have never been that sick. If I'm starting from scratch, my season is likely stuffed. Racing is practically over by mid May, with only a few intemittent races after June.
My background is: Sport 30-34 (top 10-15 finsher), I train 8-10 hours a week on a fairly regimented program (Friel) |
| doubt you lost that much muscle | mtnbkaz
Mar 8, 2002 6:28 AM | | I'm not a health professional but I doubt that you lost 18 lbs. of muscle in that short of a time. You probably lost a lot of water weight and got dehydrated in addition to losing some muscle and fat (usually when you're sick you aren't eating as much as you should be).
Sounds like me a few months ago. I wasn't sick but in the process of moving to a new house my training was shot and I was lucky to get 2 hrs/week on the bike (and had a couple weeks where I didn't exercise at all). Took about 6 weeks of training at a decent volume to get back to where I felt that I was. If you're using Friel's program then I think he recommends starting with a build phase when you come back from an illness (I forget exactly so you should consult his book). |
| A few medical statistics......... | The Squeaky Wheel
Mar 9, 2002 6:05 AM | | Studies from the medical & rehab lit show that one can lose 3-5% of muscle mass/strenght for every 5-7 days when you don't exert at least 50% of your maximal muscle capacity. Given that stat, it's possible that you lost 15-20% of your muscle mass/strength after 5 weeks of bedrest.
There is also an effect on your cardiovascular and respiratory conditioning. It can take some time for your lungs to feel completely normal when exercising. Pneumonia is basically an accumulation of bacteria, pus & fluid in your lungs and it can take some time to resolve even after the infection has been eradicated.
The good news is that conditioned athletes tend to rebound quicker for a variety of reasons including a lack of underlying illnesses like diabetes or heart disease as well as additional motivational factors.
Stick with it. I'm not surprised that you're having a tough time, but you'll rebound.
Squeak |
| re: Total Meltdown...Any hope? | Big Ed
Mar 21, 2002 2:30 PM | | When I was younger, I got a bad case of pneumonia and was hospitalized for a week, including a stint in ICU. At the time I was undergoing Army Special Forces training. I got the pneumonia at the end of January, and was unable to exercise in February due to ribcage pain. In late March I passed the SF land navigation course, an orienteering course requiring about 6 hours of night movement with a 50 pound rucksack. In early May I passed a longer land nav exercise that required 3 days of solo movement through the mountains with a ruck, covering perhaps 50 miles off trail. I was still weak in March, but by May was as fit as anyone else.
My point: Once you are completely healed from your illness, your body will rapidly recover strength until you reach your natural fitness level. From there on, hard training will get you back in racing form. I doubt you'll win this spring, but you can get yourself back to where you are competitive by early May. Good luck and train hard, but let yourself completely defeat the illness before you train. |
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