Muscle advice

AstraMonti

Hey all

I was off a bike for 11 years and now i am almost a month on the bike and i have done around 400 kms. I am doing an average of 100kms in the weekdays and depending on the mood in the weekend from 30 to 50 or more.

I feel my leg muscles really tired, and in the slight resistance (uphill) or sprint i feel them burning. Should i get some days off the bike and relax the muscles or keep pushing them to get in form?

Any advice is highly appreciated!

seamus

Yep, definitely give yourself days off. Working through the pain will impede muscle growth. Fair dues on those distances, especially after 11 years. At this point, I would say do two days on, one day off, two days on, two days off.

So do your spin on Monday & Tuesday, rest Wednesday, Spin on Thursday & Friday and then take the weekend off, or do short, relaxed spins.

Caroline_ie

Stretch after your spins as well.

Needabike

Ride every day you can
Take at least one easy spin for every 3 hard ones

Raam

Not neccessarily related to your question, but here is an interesting article on training

http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2008/12/simplified-base-bicycle-training.html

One must be patient with training. When passed by a group of Christmas Stars on the road now you’ve got to have the patience to hold back and stick with your planned base fitness training.

I like the term "Christmas Stars"

niceonetom

you get fitter on rest days too but not too many of them.

when i first started going on longer spins i had a habit of trying to "finish strong", i.e. race to the door home. bad idea. on a long spin i will always try to spend the last 15 minutes of the home stretch spinning an easy gear and letting the legs cool down gently, washing out the lactate.

when i was training reasonably hard over the summer i found that good recovery immediately after a session greatly reduced leg pain the next day, and also seemed to reduce general lethargy and hunger after a longer weekend spin. i started taking a protein shake with milk as soon as i came in - i think that helps with muscle repair. if you don't fancy a shake eat some turkey or something else with good protein. i've also been told that glutamine is a good supplement for muscle pain, though i'm pretty sceptical about supplements.

if the legs are getting seriously heavy, and you can feel the lactic acid of several days in there, i found that hosing them off with cold water helped soften them up again. difficult to take at this time of year though :P

massages are nice too.

keep up the good work. :pac: :pac:

short circuit

If your legs feel tired ... you should take it easy and not to another hard session. Its probably a good idea to go for a spin everyday, but not every session should end with you being dead. Hard days should be alternated with easy ones when you feel you could have gone for another hour on the bike.

Coming back from longer spins, I usually sit in a bath of ice cold water for 10mins. I scream as I sit in .. but the body gets numb fairly quickly and though if this has any long term impact on muscle soreness is still debated .. the legs do feel immediately fresh.

And start stretching now as Caroline said .. every future session will just get your muscles tighter.

Finally, something I read in runners world but haven't tried out myself .... lay down with your butt close to a wall and lift your legs straight up and rest on the wall. Stay like this for 10mins ... supposedly stretches out the hamstrings and increases blood flow to the legs and hence quicker repair of torn muscles.

And lastly you could use biofreeze ... give yourselves a rub with it after a shower after training ... your legs will feel numb and cold. Just be sure to wash your hands before you take a wee afterwards ....

Hungrycol

Too much too soon. Rest is just as important as training. Your muscels are currently going "WHAT THE F**k"!!

Lumen

If you're riding every day, you must vary the intensity. If you can't go slow, it's better to be off the bike and resting.

I'm in a similar position as you, but aim for about 3 hours of hard effort and 3 hours of slower riding a week. This usually gives me about 3 rest (off the bike) days a week.

...although in the last month I've been on the bike only twice, for various reasons.

I found this useful.

ROK ON

Stretch, quick cold shower on legs, warm bath. Always does the trick for me after a long spin. Also, you need to re-hydrate after working out.
Finally, if you are still stiff, lie down on a flat hard surface for 10/20mins, with legs raised above head height.

Raam

I tried the cold bath thing. Couldn't stick it.

AstraMonti

Thanks guys (and ladies ofc!) for all the advices really appreciated

uberwolf

Raam wrote: »

I like the term "Christmas Stars"

we all know the sort. first club I was with, 10 minute 'race' finishing every winter spin. Only time you'd see any of them at the head of a race all year. But so hard to resist - especially at 17.

/back on topic y'all.

OP - even with sensational fitness, rest needs to be worked into your routine.