Do you even cycle bro?

Written By Circollective

By Sidonie Adamson

No, I am not here to talk about bicycling or unicycling…I’m here to talk about the training cycle!


What’s that you ask?

The training cycle is the process in which we load, recover and adapt from training (or any type of stimulus really.)

Why is it important?

Cause the more frequently we complete our training cycle, the less at risk we are for burnout, overuse injury and a whole bunch of other under-recovery related bullshit!

Basically, a sustainable training practices prioritizes this cycle.

So here’s a little visual aid some of you might recognize from my Art of Zooming out Workshop a few months ago. You can see that we’ve got a few processes highlighted here:

A diagram shows the training cycle which is split into 4 phases including activation, mobilization, deactivation and sleep. Peak training stimulus happens at the mobilization phase and restoration occurs at the sleep stage.

  1. Training specific - seen in the cycle from warm up through training through cool down and sleep

  2. Nutrition - seen in the cycle from daily nutrition through prefueling, training (using fuel,) refueling and daily nutrition again

  3. Hydration - similar to nutrition, hydration, training (dehydration) then rehydration etc etc.

  4. Nervous system - seen through the 4 phases of activation, mobilization (training,) deactivation and restoration.

  5. Circadian - from waking up, through your day, including training and then back to sleep.

The complete cycling of all these systems is what allows us to gain the most from our training (or any other period of intentional stress) without continuing to pay over the long term.

Seem like a lot?

It is! There are tons of really good reasons that completing any of these cycles is not always possible.
However, the sheer number of them also means there is usually one or two we can take charge of.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Can you identify one or two of the above cycles that you can prioritize to set yourself up for more sustainable success?

My two that are the most accessible and impactful for me are:

  1. Food! I forget to eat on days with a lot of commuting and I really feel it when I don’t get enough fuel.

  2. Nervous system! I am a naturally anxious person, learning to complete my nervous system cycle or stress cycle is huge for me if I want quality sleep, mental health and happy training.

Sleep used to be up there, but through a lot of work, sleep is much more consistent for me now. As I mentioned above, my sleep problems were tied to nervous system regulation. This is what I mean by impactful and accessible. Nervous system regulation was more impactful and accessible to me than fighting for sleep.

So give it a go, identify the 2 most accessible and impactful cycles to prioritize and focus on completing those for the next 2-4 weeks. I can’t wait to see the gains you experience :)

Circollective