Hamstring injury hampers fitness progression: What is the recovery timeline for restoring fitness within a 6-week period?
A Trainer's Tale: His Journey Back to Cycling After a Torn Hamstring
The chilling sensation of something not quite right was unmistakable. But as someone accustomed to pushing his limits, the 42-year-old writer never anticipated his knee would bend at such an awkward angle during his inaugural attempt at waterskiing. The unfortunate result: a torn hamstring, leaving him sidelined for several months.
The severity of the injury was apparent; the black-purple bruise stretching from the bottom of his posterior to the top of his ankle. His beloved cycling pursuits—from cross races to weekly BMX events with his seven-year-old son—were put on hold. A return to the bike seemed distant, and even if he did recover, the doctor warned it would be a long time before he could regain his previous power.
In the midst of his fitness limbo, a publicist from Rouvy, an online training app, reached out. The inquiry: to test their training plan, created in collaboration with the Dutch uber team Visma-Lease a Bike, to assess its potential impact on his fitness. A sixteen-session, six-week training plan followed, a beacon of hope amid those dark, activity-free months.
Rouvy's sessions can be completed using an indoor trainer or complemented by outdoor rides. The platform focuses on endurance-building zone-two efforts, ideal for the average cyclist looking to gradually improve their fitness.
The training plan started with an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test to establish baseline metrics. Despite staying relatively active during his recovery, the writer notched a surprising 315w FTP in the 40-minute ramp test. A five-minute power output reached 371w, with a one-minute output of 552, placing him slightly above average at 2.7 watts per kilogram.
Training sessions were easy to fit into his daily routine, given their short, bite-sized forty-ish-minute format. They were anything but simple, though. Designed for the working-class cyclist, the disciplines mimicked those of professional riders like Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, or Wout van Aert, but tailored for the average cyclist's capabilities. Pushing through these intense workouts left the writer drenched in sweat and desperate for respite.
As the training sessions progressed, it was unclear whether his overall fitness had improved. The versatility of the workouts offered a mix of cadence work, VO2 max rides, climbing efforts, endurance rides, and anaerobic workouts, making it difficult to track overall progress.
Mathieu Heijboer, Visma Lease-a-Bike coach, emphasized consistency and progressive overload as the key to increasing FTP. By adhering to the training plan, he believed the writer's strength would grow.
Upon completing the sixteen-session block, the writer underwent a second FTP test. With hesitant optimism, he aimed for a 10% gain in FTP—a jump from 315w to 346w. While the final results fell slightly short, there was progress: a 6%, 19-watt increase from 315 to 334w, just six watts shy of his pre-injury 340 mark. His five-minute power increased 5% from 371 to 390, while his one-minute output went from 552 to 580w.
So, what's next? According to Heijboer, additional gains would be unlikely, with diminishing returns as fitness improves. However, by incorporating new workout types, increasing volume, or varying the intensity, progress could be maintained.
For the writer, these numbers were more than just numbers. After four months of injury-induced inactivity, simply being on the bike again was cause for celebration. Looking forward, the prospect of further improvement felt like the proverbial icing on the cake.
The trainer considered the potential effects of science, specifically the training plan provided by Rouvy and the Dutch uber team Visma-Lease a Bike, on his health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise as he pursued his cycling comeback. As he progressed through the sixteen-session, six-week training program, he noticed measurable improvements in his Functional Threshold Power (FTP), demonstrating the positive impact of science on enhancing health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise.
