Originally Posted by
aaronmcd
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2) How does fatigue on a bike work? With weights/muscular strength, I can rest 3 or 4 days and be 99% sure of hitting specific numbers. On the bike I can do a hard ride, then 3 days later be 20% sure of hitting anything close. Or I'll think I'm good to go, and not know until halfway into the first effort when power is down 30 watts. And this is with about 10 times more experience bike training than weight lifting. It FEELS like my muscles are tired, but is it really my aerobic system?
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My legs and back felt tired today from some recent hard cycling, but I had a gym session scheduled so I screwed up my courage and went anyway. My second set of squats felt unusually easy, so I added 20 lbs. over my recent max and could have done an extra rep. I'd squatted that much a couple years ago, but not since. My wife, also tired, PRed her last set by 10 lbs. And I thought of you. Interesting that 2 days of hard riding upped our squats. My wife's HRV was in the toilet this morning and I didn't take mine. The mysteries of training are part of the fun.