How to recover from an illness

Return to your training the right way

Getting sick is never fun. It’s even more of a problem when you’re trying to train and prepare for an event. At the gym, we recently had a conversation with our clients about how to manage their training when they fall ill. There are two parts to this discussion: what to do with your training when you are actually sick and what to do once you get healthy.

Typically, when athletes get sick, they are concerned about losing their fitness. This worry drives them to keep training, sort of. They half-train to try to limit their fitness losses, as they see it. We would argue, however, that once you get sick, regaining your health is the priority. Halftraining keeps you half-sick. So, when you catch a cold, you should probably take a break from the workouts. If you really feel like you need to train, then the rides should be super easy and not more than 40 minutes.

You’ll notice that when you get sick that your power (or perceived exertion, if you don’t have a power meter) and heart rate are no longer in line with one another. Your heart rate tends to be higher than it would normally be for a given wattage or effort. Once your power/effort and heart rate start to come in line with one another again, you will know that you are on the mend.

Next, you need to approach training carefully as you return to full health. The biggest mistake we see is people diving right back into their training. While they feel better, they aren’t ready to train hard. Often these riders train for a week, and then 10 days later find themselves under the weather once again. They can get into a cycle of getting sick, training too early and falling ill all over again. That is a good way to ruin a riding season.

We recommend that for every day you’ve been sick, you ride one day easy once you are healthy. It seems like a crazy amount of recovery, but it does ensure you don’t get into a negative cycle of sickness and half-training. During an easy ride, your heart rate should remain below 70 per cent of your maximum. Still, you can do more than just ride steady. You can do some cadence work, such as pyramids, on a light gear. You can try riding at a higher cadence than you normally would on an endurance ride, say around 95 r.p.m. But as you start spinning, watch your heart rate carefully. You can also mix it up by cycling through a variety of cadences to keep the ride interesting. The main thing is to keep it easier than you think you need to. Then when you do start training in earnest, you are truly ready and won’t fall ill again. Once you get sick, make your focus getting healthy again, not half-training. Then, once you’re healthy, don’t rush back into training. In this column, we’ve often talked about considering your training across a longer time span. Look beyond the intervals you were hoping to hammer out this week. This long-term view is especially important when you’re sick. Getting healthy the right way will ensure your season is a success despite having fallen ill.

“Often these riders train for a week, and then 10 days later find themselves under the weather once again.”