At the moment, I am doing very little training. This week, I will do about seven minutes training – 3 mins on Tues, 4 mins on Thurs. There will be a short ride out to hill and back, but that will be about it. I’m really enjoying having loads of energy because of such a short training volume.
I’ve noticed that since cutting back on volume of training in October, I’ve needed less sleep. Earlier in the year, when I was often doing 200+ miles a week, I needed more sleep and would often be tired when getting up. Training very hard does require a sacrifice of needing more sleep. I’ve heard of many professional athletes who take 10+ hours sleep.
With a heavy mileage volume, I need about 7 and half – 11pm-6.30am. But, now I seem to need half an hour less and when I get up in the morning I feel much lighter and less tired.
Also, if I do a long ride or race which was quite intense, I often need to sleep during the day to recover. Something I wouldn’t normally do.
Of course, there are many factors that determine energy and sleep apart from exercise. But, I’ve always noticed that rest from heavy training gives more energy.
But, many people who do no exercise can feel tired and lethargic, and need many hours sleep. If you train very intensely, of course, you may need more. But, I think on a moderate volume of exercise, your energy levels will increase. The human body, was not built to be stationary. It is only in the twentieth century, that man has become used to stationary activity (see: this poster). Because so much of life involves sitting (in car, at computer, at desk, watching TV), it means we have to work harder at creating time and energy for physical exercise. I think people’s attempt to be fitter, is one of the reasons for growing popularity of cycling. In particular cycling to work, is an excellent way of getting physical exercise without taking up too much time (if you’re lucky a cycling commute will be quicker than other forms of transport)
The good news is that cycling helps you live long (pdf report). Despite the dangers from cycling, these are easily outweighed by the health benefits.
This is why it’s such a shame when people don’t take up cycling for fear of its dangerous nature. A few of my friends who started cycling did say they found they had more energy. In particular I always remember an old landlord who started cycling 5 miles to work every day. He said the first time his legs felt like jelly, but, after that he felt much better for cycling (pretty much his only exercise)
Vicious Cycle
Also, I often hear people say they have no energy for exercise or cycling. Yet, Their low energy levels may be precisely because they don’t take any exercise. When you’re unfit, exercise appears less appealing.
Related
No comments yet.