How to Use Your Coach, When You Get Sick or Injured

We talk a lot about FTFP, following the plan. And that includes knowing when the plan needs to change. When you get sick or injured, you shouldn't have to guess about what to do next. What you really need is a training plan revision.

A few missed workouts won't derail your season, but pushing through small injuries or illnesses can't because that's how the sniffles turns into a 2 to 3 week forced layoff. Today I'm going to show you exactly what to do in those situations using a real conversation from Coach Ken. By the way, Coach Cat is a AI coach that my team and I have developed so you don't have to guess or stress about what to do when life throws you a curveball. You can tell Coach Cat anything about yourself just like you would with me, and it'll help you figure out your next best move.

In this video, I'll outline a six-step process that applies to coached athletes as well because you have to tell your coach what's going on. Be proactive with communicating your health. And by steps five and six, at the end, I'll show you the part that you all get from chat GBT or any other LLM, and it's revising your training plan intelligently so you stay on track. Thanks for watching.

I'm Coach Frank Overton. Some people call me the big cat, and I've been coaching endurance athletes for over 20 years, guiding them through illnesses and injuries and all sorts of curve balls that may affect your training. Everything I'm about to show you is the exact logic I trained the Coach Cat AI with. And if you follow this six-step process, small setbacks become just speed bumps, not season ending roadblocks.

Real quick, tell me in the comments what curveballs your body is throwing you. sickness, injury, work stress. And if you want coaching that adapts when life happens, whether you get sick, injured, busy, or just aren't sure, start a free 30-day trial of Coach Cat and see what it feels like to never train alone again. Now, as an athlete, think of yourself like a Ferrari. If it starts knocking, you don't keep flooring it.

You're going to take it to the mechanic. Same with your health and your training. If something feels off, say something early. Heck, I do that with my bike.

Therefore, step number one is to tell Coach Cat or your coach what's going on. I tell athletes that I coach all the time, I'm not a mind readader. You got to tell us what's going on. There's no such thing as power data for getting sick.

We don't get a notification if you have a fever or pull a muscle. You are in your body, not us. So, type into the chat, I hurt my leg. That's it.

No diagnosis, no overthinking, no pretending to be tough. And that is the correct move. You don't need to know what it is yet. You just need to say something early because silence is how you turn a small problem into a big one, like a forced layoff or getting more sick.

Step number two is to hit the pause button. The very first thing a coach or coach cat is going to tell you is my number one rule when athletes get sick, and that is to not train. Why? Training is hard enough when you feel good, let alone when you don't.

You're not going to accomplish anything physiologically by trudging through a workout. So, it's better to rest than to train. The goal isn't to train today. The goal becomes healing up as quickly as possible so you can resume meaningful training as soon as possible.

Step three is to start asking questions. What happened? When did it happen? How do you feel now?

Where is the pain? How bad is it? on a scale of zero to 10. Did you go to work today? Do you have a fever?

Are you feeling better or worse than you did yesterday? This is the triage. It's not a diagnosis. Diagnosis is for doctors.

Triage is for coaches. In this case, it turns out the athlete tweaked something during a weight workout. The pain was zero at rest, maybe a one or two when walking, and it had already improved overnight, and there was no li. That's the good news.

But, and this is important, mild pain doesn't mean ignore it. Because mild could mean if you keep doing it, you're going to make it worse. Step number four is to develop a clear action plan. Notice how Coach Cat didn't give a vague answer like listen to your body.

It gave specific instructions to stop. No more weights, no more plyometrics. And that's the kind of clarity that removes bad decisions. Step number five is the secret sauce.

And this is to revise the training plan. And this is the part that you won't get with Chat GBT. Coach Cat didn't suggest rest. It revised the training plan.

So hard workouts are replaced with off knee recovery. There's clear notes and then there's guard rails for the next day where Coach Cat is going to check in with you the next day to assess progress. This matters psychologically because you're not skipping your workouts. Now you're FTFPing.

You're following the plan because you got a training plan revision. Even when it says rest, this is how you stay consistent long term. Step number six is to reassess day by day. This is very, very important.

It begins with how do you feel this morning? How is your pain? Is there pain walking? Is there any limp?

Do you have swelling? Is there instability? And then from there, Coach Cat can help you make the decision to do an easy spin or do another full rest day. And it's not likely going to be jump back into that hard workout that you had on your plan.

So there's no ego, there's no panic, just common sense, practical, science-based decisions. Now, the worst part about injuries isn't physical. It's the uncertainty. What makes athletes sparrow is not knowing what to do next and having a clear plan fixes that.

So, here's the big takeaway. Most injuries or illnesses don't ruin seasons, but ignoring them does. When something feels off, tell your coach immediately. Pause before pushing.

Adjust the plan and adjust your expectations. Get better first and then come back one day at a time. And it all starts with this one message. Hey coach, something's not right.

That's not a weakness. That is smart training. And this allows you to keep FTFPing even when your plan says rest to nip whatever it is going on with you in the bud before training exacerbates into something greater. Therefore, if there's one takeaway from this video, it's to treat your body like a Ferrari and to tell your coach the moment something is not right.

Getting sick or injured is one of the greatest reasons to have a coach because it helps to have someone who understands the context, can triage your issue, and it can rewrite your training plan intelligently. That's all I got for you folks. Thanks for watching. It's an honor that you do.

Here's to good health and injuryfree riding. Subscribe to our channel for more videos because we have a lot more coming. And until then, you know what to do. Work hard, ride fast, have fun, and as always, FTFP.

Getting sick or injured during a training block doesn’t have to ruin your season. Try Coaching (AI or 1:1) Free for the 1st 30 days → /

In this video, Coach Frank breaks down how to train through sickness or injury without making things worse and without losing weeks of fitness to a preventable layoff.

You’ll learn a simple 6-step process used with real coached athletes to: ✅ decide when to rest vs train ✅ adjust intensity and volume ✅ avoid overdoing it ✅ revise your training plan ✅ rebuild day by day

Most athletes don’t lose fitness from missing a few workouts — they lose it by pushing through pain or sickness and turning small issues into multi-week layoffs. This video shows you how to avoid that mistake.

We’ll also show you how CoachCat, our AI Coach, handles illness, injury, and “something feels off” situations by revising the training plan automatically when life happens.

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What is CoachCat? CoachCat is an AI Coach that builds custom training plans, analyzes your power files, revises workouts automatically, and helps you train smarter all year round.