Endurance Gone Down?

deniseamerson05

For 6 weeks I've worked out about an average of 45 minutes a day, with 1 rest day a week. Mostly cardio. Last weekend and the beginning of this week I was able to add an hour of swimming, because we happened to be somewhere that had a pool. I felt great and was able to keep up. I took a rest day Thursday this week and now the last two workouts I'm ready to call it quits after just 20 minutes in, which I find surprising after all this time. I assumed it would just get easier and easier.
Could it be, possibly, I'm not eating the protein I need these last couple of days? Or maybe I over did it with the swimming I'm not used to and my body is just tired?
Not overly concerned, just kind of curious if anyone else has experienced this?

YOLO145

I took a recovery week eating at maintenance, it helped a lot.

Chieflrg

It can be sever as l things.
Too big of deficit.
Overtraineding.
Lack of carbs.
Lack of sleep.
To name a few.

Nobody can tell you by the information you gave.

deniseamerson05

Chieflrg wrote: »

It can be sever as l things.
Too big of deficit.
Overtraineding.
Lack of carbs.
Lack of sleep.
To name a few.

Nobody can tell you by the information you gave.

Right, I realize it's a pretty vague explanation I gave. I guess I was curious on some outside factors that could cause this feeling "in general" - just took me by surprise, as my normal day to day hasn't changed much, other than the swimming I'd mentioned my first time ever to be this "active" and I feel so uneducated about it sometimes lol

lorrpb

I always have ups and downs in my workouts, especially swimming. I enjoy the good days and push through the hard ones, for 3+years.

ContraryMaryMary

Is your period due? I always have way less energy for the week prior - don't have the mental push either and my legs feel heavy. This is very common among female athletes. As soon as my period arrives I am bursting with energy. The effect is so pronounced that I will check when it's due before entering a running event, especially if it's an expensive one!

robertw486

deniseamerson05 wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

It can be sever as l things.
Too big of deficit.
Overtraineding.
Lack of carbs.
Lack of sleep.
To name a few.

Nobody can tell you by the information you gave.

Right, I realize it's a pretty vague explanation I gave. I guess I was curious on some outside factors that could cause this feeling "in general" - just took me by surprise, as my normal day to day hasn't changed much, other than the swimming I'd mentioned my first time ever to be this "active" and I feel so uneducated about it sometimes lol

It could be many factors, but the activity level alone might call for more rest, more calories, etc. If you are losing weight then the deficit alone will sometimes create a wall of sorts where exercise beyond a certain time period or level becomes much harder.

When you eat could also come into the picture for some. In your case I wouldn't worry about protein as much as carbs, since it is cardio based stuff. But I reached a point where my cardio would suffer unless I ate something before doing it, even though I never did that in a maintenance mode.

jjpptt2

If this if the first "bad" day(s) you've had in the past 6 weeks, then you are doing better than a lot of us.

Poor rest/recovery and poor nutrition/intake are the biggest factors for me when I have a bad day/week. But as mentioned before, there a number of possible factors. I'd add stress to the previous list.

Djproulx

jjpptt2 wrote: »

If this if the first "bad" day(s) you've had in the past 6 weeks, then you are doing better than a lot of us.

^^ exactly.

OP, as others have said, many possible factors. Since you mentioned you "added in swimming", and it is your "first time ever to be this active" I would not be surprised if your body just needed some more recovery than just the one day off.

VintageFeline

Djproulx wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

If this if the first "bad" day(s) you've had in the past 6 weeks, then you are doing better than a lot of us.

^^ exactly.

OP, as others have said, many possible factors. Since you mentioned you "added in swimming", and it is your "first time ever to be this active" I would not be surprised if your body just needed some more recovery than just the one day off.

Particularly if you're only doing cardio. Endurance cardio is hard work never mind effectively going from zero to 100.

deannalfisher

an hour swimming is hard work - even as a swimmer, I rarely spend an hour in my workouts (when I start getting in the 2500-3000yd range I do)...so it could be a simple overdoing it

BrianSharpe

One of the things you'll see in race training plans, strength plans etc etc are periodic lower volume weeks. Eg 3 weeks build & 1 week easy to help you recover and avoid overtraining. From the sounds of it you've had 6 weeks of building without a low volume week, dial it back a little this week and see how you feel.

NorthCascades

It sounds like fatigue to me. Most people are surprised how hard swimming is. Sometimes a new kind of strain sneaks up on you instead of making itself felt all at once.

AnnPT77

In addition to good thoughts above: Conditioning is fairly sport-specific. If you're doing activity X and and similar activity Y, there can be some carry-over. And at a very general level, cardiovascular fitness and relevant general strength will carry over.

But when you do something new and different, it's reasonable to expect to need a period of adaptation. Phase in of the new activity is helpful, rather than just suddenly adding a whole big volume of newness.

I'd predict that you would've handled an extra hour of cardio volume (your regular type) more easily than you've added the hour of swimming. Try adding the swimming fewer days, and/or shorter duration, then build up slowly to more.

The more you do, and the more the things you do vary (cross training ), the easier it will get to add new things, over time. You'll do great.

Edited: train-wreck typo

cwolfman13

Are you providing your body with enough energy (calories) for the activity you're doing? The more you do, the more fuel you need.

Also, you just added swimming...just because you're well conditioned to do X doesn't mean you're necessarily well conditioned to do Y. I cycle and can basically ride all day...I would die on an endurance run because I don't really run and I'm not conditioned to do so. There's some crossover in regards to fitness, but it is limited.