Regaining Fitness after Few Weeks Out

harringtonp

Hi,

Took a hard fall on the bike Sunday Feb 8th and broke a sit bone (Inferior Pubic Remus). Got back on the bike last Sunday after 6 weeks off it and have had a few spins since.

Was surprised to see how far fitness had fallen, reckon I lost about 40 Watts and the heart rate is about 15-20 beats higher at pre accident endurance pace.
Thought fitness would come back quickly with a few spins but progress is slow with just small improvement over the few spins I did this week.

What is the usual story with a few weeks out ? Does getting back to where you were usually happen quickly or are several weeks or even months needed ?

Should probably add I'm well into my Vet years at this stage.

ninoon

This is normal in my experience of a few layoffs over 30 yrs. Going back after a 5 or 6 wk break is like starting from scratch initially but a few hundred kms should get you going ok again

neris

I pretty much stopped at the end of october last year and didnt get back on the bike till start of february. overweight and out of shape then. Out 3-4 times a week now and have seen a vast improvement, fitness, weight loss and ability. Just get the KMs back in regularly and build up your distances and vary your routes. Few weeks and you,ll be back to where you were at the least

petethedrummer

harringtonp wrote: »

What is the usual story with a few weeks out ? Does getting back to where you were usually happen quickly or are several weeks or even months needed ?

I think there's a difference between a few weeks off as rest and a few weeks out due to a break. I was off with a bad break last May/June and got back on the bike when the doctor said it was healed about 80%. Good enough to get out of the sling and resume normal life. I was worse than useless on the bike. It felt like my body was still busy throwing it's resources in to the healing process and didn't want to exercise at all.

I've taken long periods off exercise and it has always been relatively easy to get fit again. Different story with the break.

harringtonp

Thanks Pete,

Was going to ask specifically how it is with guys who had been training 3-4 or more times a week and then broke something like a collar bone. If they race how long from being first back on a bike to regaining previous racing fitness ?

Body is still not fully right: cannot run from A to B, some normal everyday functions still difficult, not fully comfortable on bike yet, stay away from high wattage (short surges) so what you are saying about the body going into a different mode after a break makes sense.

harringtonp

Just thought I'd update.

6 weeks out and coming to the end of 6 weeks back on the bike.

I can do 6x3 minute intervals at 92% previous wattage levels. Longer stuff is at about 95% previous levels.

Getting that last few % back will be a lot of work.

Does this level of progress after a bone break strike a chord with anybody out there ?

Inquitus

harringtonp wrote: »

Just thought I'd update.

6 weeks out and coming to the end of 6 weeks back on the bike.

I can do 6x3 minute intervals at 92% previous wattage levels. Longer stuff is at about 95% previous levels.

Getting that last few % back will be a lot of work.

Does this level of progress after a bone break strike a chord with anybody out there ?

I think a rule of thumb is it takes about the same number of weeks to get it back as weeks out at least up to a couple of months off anyways. Thats in my experience and seems to tally with what you've seen.

harringtonp

That's what I was hoping for but in spite of consistent training over the 6 weeks it's still a bit short. Hoping another 6 weeks with a lot of 30 second to 2 min intervals will do it. If it does that will be a 1:2 ratio

Beasty

I suspect, based on your posting elsewhere, that you may not be as young as some around here. I think full recovery is generally going to take a bit longer the older you are.

Although I was getting on a bike after a couple of months my own injuries were much more extensive and I still suffer from a lot of after effects from the crash. After about 8 months though I was hitting PBs at the very short end of the power curve. A further 6 months and I'm only now getting near what I was capable of at the 3 mins+ section of the curve. I'll probably only be getting there at 20 mins+ when I get seriously back into racing/TTs

Borderfox

I fractured my pubic ramps and my sacro illiac about 9 weeks ago and only starting physio for four weeks still sore and only allowed on turbo at the moment. It's the worst injury I have ever had on the bike and my fitness is way down.