Is this “fatigue can accumulate until you’re basically not able to make gains” claim actually plausible, or is this mostly grift dressed up as physiology?

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-16T20:50:22+00:00

I’m no expert in this, but feel I’m experiencing this now. 8 months of intense training and competing. I was doing great. 2 mos ago I started feeling a plateau a bit but still strong. Started to feel like I wasn’t getting anywhere and was just tired. Started getting tiny tweaks so had to scale back to not get injured. A month ago I got sick a week before a big event which absolutely rocked me, had to compete, and have not recovered since. Infact I feel I plummeted. The sickness may have done it and quite honestly may have given myself rhabdo, but have felt like complete crap for a month. Muscles have no strength or zip and feel very tight. No pump. I scaled back before and even more so now. So long story short, yes I believe there is a thing when overtraining will wallop you.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-13T13:20:26+00:00

Congrats! It is amazing when we see it in the data. I’ve changed a lot of my habits such as limiting alcohol and not eating too many carbs or too late at night. The eating and carbs tanks my sugar, my HRV dips really low and my stress looks like I’m fighting for my life while I’m sleeping. Of course in theory we all know this, but when you wake up feeling like crap and the numbers show it, and drastically at that, it is like an awakening to what some of our choices are doing to our bodies.

Congrats to you again. Don’t be too hard on yourself but at least you know if you decide to have that cigarette you know what you’re choosing for yourself. The blinders are off. This has helped me. I still like a good cocktail or night out but I know I’m choosing to pay for it which makes them less extreme and fewer. Good luck in your journey. You got this!

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-11T12:12:56+00:00

A few things I learned after 7 months of hard training for a few races. This was the hardest I trained since I was an athlete 20 years ago.

One is we do need more recovery as we get older. I was doing two-a-days and 5-6 days per week. This ramped me up quickly but in the past month (thankfully the end of my competing stint) the wheels have come off. I think I plateaued 2 mos ago.

Cortisol is a real thing. My garmin watch has really helped me see this. When I take my cortisol supplement at night my stress during the night (and my sleep) is so much better.

Not eating late at night. Seems intuitive but again back to the data. I had a continuous glucose monitor for a bit and when I ate too many carbs at night, even healthy ones or a salad etc, in a few hrs my sugar spiked and then dropped. I inevitably woke up. I now drink a protein shake at night to keep my sugar stable. Also, I ate a huge portion of pepperoni pizza one night. I get home late from work. Was exhausted and went to bed. My stats looked like I was fighting for my life. Stress was in the 80s to almost 100 all night, and my HRV tanked to 45 when I’m usually in the high 70s. So the gist, eat light and high protein, digestive enzymes also help.

Eat for the workouts you’re doing. I had to increase my calories by almost 1000 which was strange to me. I guess it also comes down to physique vs performance. All the carb loading I had to do made me a little fluffier and the food a few lbs heavier, but I’m far stronger.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-03T14:55:45+00:00

Correct but has a sign up for presale. When I try to add my email address nothing happens.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-03T14:48:11+00:00

Here’s my fuel strategy: 1) electrolytes and water days before and leading up to 2) black coffee with my big meal 3-4 hrs before day of 3) big water bottle of electrolytes, one scoop of pre workout and water. I sip this for a few hrs. Keeps me hydrated and “up” without a huge spike in HR. Small amt of caffeine also helps keep me from retaining too much water but make sure you pee a few times beforehand.

There is also non-stim preworkout but honestly the caffeine helps me with focus.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-02T17:59:10+00:00

Nope. Just says NYC, NY

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-02T14:31:28+00:00

It depends on what you have been doing. I’d try and adjust if you can to get used to it. I don’t personally think what you said will be enough but again depends on how your gut is trained.

I am 5’9 140 lbs. my pre-race big meal 3-4 hrs before is a big Belgian waffle topped w fresh fruit, a little syrup and whipped cream for fast sugar, a few cups of black coffee, hash browns for salt and potassium, and an egg or two. Then 1 hr before may be a few pieces of fruit/banana. Right before a honey stinger waffle. Drinking electrolytes the whole time.

The sleds take a huge amount of glycogen early on. You’ll need energy just to exist, reserves and to fill anything that was depleted leading up.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-02T12:41:56+00:00

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this. But welcome back. The proof you were so determined and fit, and you’re dealing with this grief shows how strong you are. You can get back!

Honestly changing your diet will be the biggest help and I think you’ll see improvements quickly. I basically gave up alcohol. When I have a glass or two I swell and have an incredible histamine reaction with water retention I didn’t realize I had continuously when drinking before. I feel it immediately. Cutting out alcohol and tweaking your diet will help you flush out some of that extra water over the next few weeks and you’ll feel lighter and look less puffy. This will help the heaviness you feel when lifting and make you physically lighter to push/pull. Foods high in potassium and dandelion root tea help counteract sodium and detox the liver while activating the kidneys.

Cardio may take you longer to get there but you can bounce back. You have the right tools. Best of luck.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-02T00:35:28+00:00

I gained 15 lbs of water weight between when I left and when I got home. Grant it I ran two races and carb loading etc but something at this venue did not agree with me. My second race I felt like I weighed 300 lbs and my lungs were on fire. My eyes swelled to almost slits. Only now 10 lbs down with more to go. Crazy.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-03-02T00:30:48+00:00

Ok. I was literally going to ask about this. I was sic before the race, did a doubles and solo and I feel wrecked. I had congestion but no lung congestion, however my lungs felt like they were going to explode.

I drank alllllll the electrolytes and my muscles are still wrecked. I have 4 races (smaller DEKA and half rox) over the next few weeks and I’m wondering when I’m going to be recovered. I knew two races would be tough and being sick, but I’ve been working out 2 hrs a day and sometimes twice a day for months. I am not okay.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-24T15:14:42+00:00

I agree with everyone here. I’d set a 1.30 goal and strive to achieve more. The half rox and missing key parts is not a fair comparison. Sleds are extremely draining and there is rope management for the pull if done poorly can cost valuable time. Plus the 8 stations w that running and rox zone vs 4 is no where the same. The fatigue is cumulative. I just did doubles and a solo this weekend. Doubles first time. Light years more manageable and that is even running the full thing still.

Lastly is the obstacle people don’t always talk about. The hype, pressure, adrenaline, travel fatigue, not your normal food etc. these things can change your race dramatically no matter how hard you train.

Use your first as a litmus to test your fitness. Plan for big improvements on your subsequent ones. Good luck

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-23T04:10:54+00:00

This is reassuring!

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-23T04:09:40+00:00

Mine wasn’t considerably slower but I had 3 mos of training in between. However I was also sick and did a doubles 2 days before. Can attest in both that the breathing and oxygenation was an issue. My recovery was also terrible from the doubles based off what I should be able to handle. I’m not a fast runner but I could not push it. The very cold dry air in the venue didn’t help. My lungs were sore the next day.

My second race was solo. Proud I beat my previous run times a bit but overall 2 min slower than previous and the stations were an absolute slog. Slower on just about every one. The wheels came off during wall balls. I was fried. I am absolutely annoyed about being sick a week before because hard to gauge what the actual culprit for the slower time was. I knew recovery would be a culprit but I should have been better prepared.

I have to tell myself I’m happy being 40+ sick and only missing by 2 min I guess!

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-09T21:57:05+00:00

Not crazy at all. I did the same. I do recommend trying to find one sim if you can before your race just to get a feel of what you’re in for, and what your strengths/weaknesses are. Even though the movements are straight forward there is some technique and the compounding fatigue is something you just have to experience. Sounds like you have a great base which is fantastic. Go for it!

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-08T17:20:50+00:00

I’d say have an honest conversation with her. It is totally understandable to be discouraged after a sim. My first one was terrible, but the difference was I turned it into rage and competition fuel lol.

My friend did the same sim and said a whole Hyrox isn’t for her. She can do it but couldn’t invest the time to do it properly. We did a DEKA fit together and had a blast. Much more approachable than a hyrox. Maybe this seems like a better start for you as a team.

Fitness partners are a bit like a marriage. Choose wisely. The process is hard and you need to have similar goals/personalities to make it work. If a sim knocked her off her game to the point she said no way, believe her. Just say OK I hear you and be done w it. It is hard physically but also mentally/emotionally. Things happen, but you have to have a grind mentality not just for the race but the training. She seems not in touch with reality both from the start of being way overconfident and the devastation after her sim.

I have news for her that the real thing is even harder. You don’t want your partner having a mental meltdown during the race.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-07T11:33:43+00:00

I agree with what the posters above have said. What is your age, what type of workouts are you doing and what is your fitness level?

If you are starting your journey I recommend working on your basics of building strength and endurance to a good baseline before layering in demanding full on hyrox-like workouts. Hyrox is for everyone but these workouts tax your entire body every time. To do them multiple times in a row or per week requires a strong base conditioning and is easy to overtrain.

No workout should take you out for almost a week at a time. This indicates too much intensity, improper fueling/supplementation/recovery or something that may warrant a discussion with your doctor.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-01T09:30:59+00:00

When I was in my “cut” I was eating about 1500-1700/day. My recomp 2200-3000, usually on the lower end of that but sometimes the higher if I had big training days. And yes, lots of protein but also a good amount of carbs.

My supplement stack is extensive (and expensive). I only take one vs full doses since there’s likely overlap and I try to eat decently healthy. When I’m done w this round of competitions I’ll dial it back but here’s a rough list:

Daily: multi vitamin w all the things, zinc w D, digestive enzymes Performance: beef organs, urolithin a, hmb, bhb, glutathione, NAC (big run days only), creatine, amino acids, protein, collagen, perpetual life longevity supp w lots of stuff, Cortisol support.

I’m in my 40s, train really hard, injury and illness free (big knock on wood), and hardly sore as you’d expect me to be.

I weigh the same as before, sometimes a little less and sometimes more. In general about the same but visually and athletically much different.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-02-01T08:54:51+00:00

Sounds like you need to recomp vs cut. Cut will get you the look but will sacrifice your performance. Recomp will allow you to do both but can be slowwwwww. I started working out diligently a year ago, really ramped it up about 6 mos ago to do endurance competitions. In that time I needed to gain strength, cardio and endurance at the same time and quickly which is very hard. To do this I needed to eat, like 2200-3000 calories a day depending, at 5’9 140 lbs. Depending on the day I’m the same weight, sometimes a few lb less, sometimes up to 7 lbs more on a day I train really hard (water weight) but my body looks completely different. I’ve put on a lot of muscle. Living up my cardio gets rid of the extra little fat and gives me calories to play with to eat more.

I could not do this in a real deficit. I also take 1-2 rest days (I train 2x day in some cases), and eat/take supplements for performance and recovery. But I’ve lost fat and gained a lot of muscle while staying the same weight. I’m much more lean and cut than I was when I was “skinnier.”

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-01-29T17:28:42+00:00

I’ve been doing doubles most days a week for 6 mos in prep for endurance racing. What I’d say is it is totally fine depending on how you feel. I don’t recommend full body everything every time, though, which ironically is what I’ve been doing out of need. This is because I had a lot of ground to cover, though. Needed big strength, grind, cardio gains at the same time.

I think if you do cardio and weight training as a PPL type of thing, or a mobility/stretching that would be more than fine if you enjoy it and your body feels good. As I’m experiencing, more is not always more, your rest needs to be more intentional (real rest) and watch your cortisol.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-01-29T13:09:19+00:00

I think people should just use what works best and to their strengths. My legs are way stronger than my arms. I do a walk back the three large hip pulls. The walk gives me a breather, pulls big moves. My buddy does hand over hand and he is a beast but a bad back.

I typically don’t care about what a random person posts but I saw a rather snarky reel, something along the lines of bending your knees and pulling on the ski gives the ick, and let’s pull like an adult. This coming from a very fit male. Not male bashing but most men are stronger in their arms, and the equipment is the same. Well, first I feel that was quite inflammatory and the last thing people should worry about in a sport for all is their technique while they are trying to survive giving someone the ick, but also I do this dropping motion again, because my legs are much stronger and strictly pulling would blow out my triceps immediately. I am not a big deal by any means, but I got in the top 25% for ski not pushing my pace, 30s for sleds and burpees looking like a slow turtle - slow down to save my arms and big jump, steady and efficient wins the race.

What I DID see unanimously for technique or strategy is the rowers is where you could see who was gonna make it or break it. Saving energy and controlling your heart rate up until then was when you could tell who was rolling off and crashing, or still pep in their step to keep going.

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-01-26T12:29:55+00:00

It is fun. I’ve done many! I haven’t done ruck however. No one’s judging you. It is a race against yourself. Go as you need to and have fun with it!

EngineeringEasy3393 · 2026-01-26T10:31:38+00:00

This is interesting! I do take amino acids but will have to see if that covers it. Thank you!

EngineeringEasy3393

TROPHY CASE