muscle fatigue

[qatet]

Of late, I reach the end of my fencing week with legs so tired I don't want to even stand on them. Does anybody have any expereince with such fatigue? It's making me rather impatient with myself.
To give you some idea of what I do, my week consists of:
Tuesday: 3 hours of practice - bouting, footwrok, etc.
Wednesday: hour or so of coaching, a bit of footwork
Thursday: 2 or so hours of bouting and footwork
Friday: Lesson, footwork, sometimes bouting or drilling, plus 4 hours of standing and coaching
Saturday: 3 hours of coaching, with a practice afterwards that I could theoretically go to, but by this point I'm wilting
Sunday: meets?
Monday: REST

In theory, a body should become accustomed to a schedule and adapt by building strength, but mine doesn't seem to do so. Does anybody have experience with this? Does it take more exercise (I'm a grad student and pretty much spend my non-fencing time on my belly reading a couple books a week) or should I find a way to knock the load down (not my preference)? Nutritional changes? I eat a pretty healthy diet, but maybe I'm not thinking of something. Something else that I'm just not thinking of?

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

[Sabresque]

Did you work up to this gradually? If not, maybe you should try cutting back, then maybe work slowly up to it, adding a little at a time. One thing you definitly don't want to do is burn out on fencing. I have a schedule that's about this demanding, and if I hadn't worked up to this amount of footwork, drilling, and fencing I would be dead (we just upped the footwork, and I am feeling pretty tired right now). You should probably think this over if you're truly that tired. Good luck!

[Sabresque]

Oh, just to add something. One thing people do for burn out is taking a short vacation form fencing (it doesn't have to be real long) just to let yourself rest and give your body a break. While you're at home, you can work out a little, but it wouldn't be the kind of thing you would normally be doing. Change of scenery for a tiny bit.

[The_Claw]

i wish i could get as much fencing in! i don't think you need more of anything, your schedule is really full. Book a massage and have someone work the knots out of your muscles, then soak in warm water [hot does something else], with a cup of epsom salts and you'll feel great.

Some studies have been done to suggest that the muscles are fatigued because of lactic acid build up. In any case, the massage/soak thing works, and then listen to something that doesn't jarr the nerves, like, Jupiter and fall asleep.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Hey, look! Claw and I are in a degree of synchronicity here!

A regular massage from a sports-based trainer or physical therapist might well be in order. With your training schedule, you're probably not getting enough down time for a full removal of
lactic acid and other exercise by-products, plus your muscle groups aren't getting enough rest and repair time.

So, in no particular order, you might try:

1. Sports massage therapy 2-4 times a month, especially on the legs.
2. Cutting out Thursday's practice for a while as a "rest" day.
3. Increasing the amount of potassium in your diet

[magma]

i was too wordy, trying to clean up the posts:

Also, a little insight about massage; tip from experience.
try to take massage 3-4 days before a competition, if you massage too close to competition, you'll be too relaxed and fall asleep.

[Gibo]

I went from fencing once a week in a somewhat lax fashion before college to fencing five days a week for three hours a day once I got here. The first couple weeks were absolutely brutal, everyone else was trying to get back into shape while I was getting into that sort of shape for the first time. A solid hour of footwork, followed by drills and bouting is the usual routine. After about two months I got used to it, I still get tired but recover very quickly. It used to take hours or days to fully recover from an intense session, now I'm fine in about 15 minutes. It's great for long tournaments, you can press people hard and watch them wither from fatigue as the day goes on. It's a lot of fun watching someone else's legs shake after the sixth hour of fencing and being ready to go yourself . The second year was much easier, was already close to the level of fitness I was before. It took about a week to get back into it after the summer break.

[lfortier]

Hello, I started fencing four months ago and experienced the same fatigue and soreness as you did, but it can and eventually will go away. Here's the quickest way: Try to do strength training in the tricepts AND biceps (remember all muscles come in pairs, and for one to work well, the other has to also be in good condition.) Also, work your back and stomach, and perhaps thighs would help your en garde a bit, as well as keeping you from slouching (trust me, bad idea to have poor/weak posture during a bout!) Keep in mind it's better to be well-toned and strongER than big,bulky and STRONG, as I've heard it slows you down. Additionally, try to increase your intake of protein, which builds muscle. It also could'nt hurt to do 20 minutes of footwork and holding the sword on days you don't fence. Finally, good ol' aspirin and heating pads are there when you when you need it. Hope I helped!

[mfp]

Originally posted by The_Claw
Some studies have been done to suggest that the muscles are fatigued because of lactic acid build up. In any case, the massage/soak thing works, [...]

If you are claiming massage or soaking somehow removes lactic acid, there's not much in the research literature that backs that up. Massage and soaking might be nice or good for other reasons, but "removing lactic acid" hasn't proven to be one of them.

[thebigriddle]

Don't over train and listen to your body. If you feel really tired you need a break. Sometimes fencing with the off hand helps. Do some other kind of activity such as dancing, do some yoga go for a walk. You have to cross a little. Break up the routine.

[thebigriddle]

Also stay hydrated. Water is very important. You lose muscle strength when you are dehydrated.