[larsd]

Hey there,

caught a flu which put me off the bike for nearly 3 weeks. Bad timing as season is just starting and everything went well prior to that. Went to the GP and Cardiologist to make sure all is clear to go ahead with training.

Did some light rides the last 3 days and beside the fact that I feel like I did an Ironman after cycling for 30 minutes my HR is about 10 beats higher than before the flu.

Usually my power zone was the same as my HR zone. If I was riding Power 3.2 my HR was around the same number.

However it is possible for me to pretty much hit the same power numbers (with a much higher HR though)

I just would like to understand from physiological point of view why this is happening. Did my blood decrease the capability to transport oxygen? Did my heart get weaker in the 3 weeks while my legs appear to have kept most of the strength? Etc.

Assuming this has happened to other people before, what is the outlook to get back to my form before the flu and how much time is expected?

Thanks

 

[Le Duke]

The heart, lungs and legs are not operating in isolation. You got sick, and lost some conditioning. Your muscle cells lost some of their ability to turn fuel into energy, and in order to make up for that, demand more fuel (oxygen) from your heart/lungs to compensate for that loss of efficiency.

Pretty simple.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LMN]

Things should get back to normal after a couple of weeks.

I had a flu a couple of weeks ago and rode on a day I shouldn't have: power 120 HR 150 = time to go home.

 

[Le Duke]

Mine was a bout of gastroenteritis. It sucked. I'm still a little below where I was, but I'm slowly getting the power back.

Still have a slightly elevated HR for given power levels, but I attribute that to simple loss of fitness, not lingering illness.