Athletica after surgery

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Hi

I started using Athletica 3 months ago for a cycling event later in the year, and used the cycling program devised for me. Unfortunately I had to get Achilles tendon surgery and will be out of action for a while.

Any suggestions how I can use Athletica to build me a recovery plan when I can get back on the trainer to catch up gradually with my original training schedule?

Thank you

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Hi Koevoet, I feel you, had to come back after a while out with surgeries and illness last year. Here’s how I did it - please use your feeling and use caution of course.

Since I was out for over a year, my comeback was slower, almost back to level of “couch to…”. Regardless, first it is all about base and what the body can handle with a reasonable increase week over week, so this is how I did / would do it:

  1. Set up a low volume plan (I think it’s called recreational now?) with the max hours being something like 30-45 minutes a day to start. Increase the duration when ready down the road.

  2. If you have threshold / power / etc. numbers in there, edit them downward dramatically to keep low intensities to start. Write them down elsewhere to remember later, or even better let the AI get you back there as you heal.

  3. Use the workout wizard to replace ALL high-intensity efforts with lower - perhaps swimming when you’re cleared for that, yoga, meditation, walking, etc.

  4. For other workouts, if / when you can pedal and run (run will be a while…) do only the aerobic / strength ones at a slow pace.

  5. Over time, the AI will recognize that you’re getting faster and stronger and will pace with you. If you have to keep it low for longer and the program is pushing to go faster, just disregard and keep the paces you can handle.

Athletica is nice to have even with injury since a) it suggests a variety of workouts which keeps things interesting and b) the Workout Wizard makes it really easy to replace with what you can handle and c) as you get stronger, you’ll get guidance on how / where to add / push!

Good luck, listen to your body, make sure you’re ready to disregard the plan when you feel it’s too much, and here are all the healing energies I can send!

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Thank you, very helpful.

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Good luck - and post any feedback or other questions as you go.

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