Overtraining, Under-Fueling, Stuck in a Training Rut?

Lose the weight and get your mojo back! 

This training tip and podcast was inspired by a recent athlete asking for help:

I've been cycling for nearly 20 years (now 44) and used to race, but mostly train year-round, indoors and out, 10-15 hours in the summer and 6-8 in the winter.

Over the past few years I’ve gain 15 pounds , I can't shake.  I have a stressful job, two kids, and get about 7 hours of sleep. 

My workouts burn 800–1000 calories daily, and I watch what I eat (no extreme dieting, moderate alcohol/snacks), but the weight won’t budge. 

Worse, I can’t sustain higher heart rates or effort on the bike anymore—my HR won’t stay above 140, and I feel empty when I push. I’m barely sweating. Breaks haven’t helped, and I’m wary of increasing calories while already carrying extra weight.

Your symptoms—low energy, inability to sustain high heart rates, and lack of sweat—could point to low energy availability (LEA). Even with calorie counting, your body might not be getting enough fuel to support both your workouts and daily life demands (job, kids, stress). This can lead to a suppressed metabolism and fatigue, making weight loss and performance harder.

You weight gain could be age-related hormonal changes that occur in men in their 40’s.  Namely a gradual decline in testosterone levels which can affect metabolism, muscle mass, fat distribution, and energy levels. This is sometimes referred to as andropause or age-related hormonal decline.

Which hormones may be causing your symptoms? 

Testosterone Decline: Lower levels can reduce muscle mass and increase fat storage, making it harder to maintain a lean body composition.

Cortisol: Chronic stress (e.g., job, life demands) can elevate cortisol, which promotes fat storage, especially around the abdomen.

Thyroid Function: While not directly age-related, thyroid hormone imbalances can slow metabolism and contribute to weight gain.

Growth Hormone: Levels naturally decline with age, which can impact recovery, fat metabolism, and muscle repair.

Coaching Advice:

The #1 thing you can do is to get tested: A simple blood test can check testosterone, thyroid, and other hormone levels. This will help rule out any medical issues.

Then here’s what we recommend to get out of the rut, get your mojo back to your training and lose that weight; 

1. Nutrition First: Focus on fueling your workouts with carbs. Try eating a small carb-rich snack (e.g., a banana or toast with honey) before your morning rides. Post-ride, prioritize recovery with protein and carbs to replenish glycogen and repair muscles.

Coach Andrew Giniat and Nutritionist Alex Winnicki recently recorded a podcast about how much carbohydrate you need to consume even if you are trying to lose weight. And why low carb diets are bad and will result in rut like this athlete.  

The take home point and analogy is that you, as an athlete, are Ferrari and carbohydrates are your fuel (gas) . But the body does not work like a Ferrari in terms of going fast even as they tank empties.  Athletes do better when their tanks are kept at full as possible at all times. This includes before, during and after exercise.

2. HRV and Recovery: Use your HRV data to monitor recovery. If it’s consistently low, it might indicate overtraining or stress. Your 7 hours of sleep is solid, but stress and under-fueling can still take a toll.

The CoachCat app has a free Whoop offer that will combine your sleep and HRV data with your training data to let you know if you are recovered or not.  Then when you are not ‘feeling it’ you can ask for daily adjustments. 

Start each morning with personalized recommendations based on your sleep and recovery.   This is so clutch for a masters athletes balancing life’s daily demands: job, kids, stress.

3. Training Adjustments: Consider dialing back intensity for a few weeks. Focus on Zone 2 rides to rebuild your aerobic base and avoid burnout. This aligns with your winter training history.

Sometimes a chill reset is needed.  We prescribe them regularly like mid-season one week breaks, and 2 week post season breaks and this “Zone 2 - get out of a rut” week:

Monday: Rest day or light yoga/stretching (focus on recovery).

Tuesday: Zone 2 ride; 60-90 mins, go by your zone 2 heart rate over watts

Wednesday: Short recovery spin (45 mins, HR <120 bpm) or a complete rest day if you feel fatigued.

Thursday: Zone 2 ride; 60-90 mins, go by your zone 2 heart rate over watts

Friday: Strength & Conditioning (light weights or bodyweight exercises, 30-45 mins).

Saturday: Longer Zone 2 ride; 2-3 hours, go by your zone 2 heart rate over watts

Sunday: Zone 2 ride; 60-90 mins, go by your zone 2 heart rate over watts

In all total this is 5-8 hours of Zone riding by heart rate which will reset your body and mojo! 

4. Strength Training: Adding 1-2 sessions of strength work per week can help with metabolism and body composition.

On Mondays and Fridays, we already recommend Dr. Eric Goodmans 12 min “do this everyday, no back pain ever’ routine + glute activation movements + yoga for cycling.

Additional you could do ‘Coach Andrew’s Strength Maintenance Deadlift: Concentric Only Trap Bar Squat” once a week. 

We don’t recommend hitting the gym for traditional squats, leg press and kettlebell work because the aim is to get back on the bike and not introduce additional stress to your body during this reset. 

5. Professional Input: consult with a sports nutritionist or doctor to rule out underlying issues like hormonal imbalances (e.g., thyroid) - this would be uncovered by getting your hormone levels tested as suggested above. 

If you put #’s 1 - 4 into practice for 3-5 weeks and still have the same symptoms, the next step would be to see your doctor.  Not only would this rule out anything as it relates to your health, you’d get the peace of mind to eat more, stress less, ride easy more often and lift regularly 

COPYRIGHT © 2025 FASCAT COACHING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

FasCat gives you two ways to ride faster! 

Try CoachCat for free for one month, no credit card is required!

CoachCat is your AI-Powered Coach available 24/7/365.  Follow a custom training plan with unlimited revisions and instant analysis. The first month is free and no credit card is required!