How to schedule long distance commutes to avoid fatigue and gain some fitness...

Seweryn

Hi Guys,

I have been on the bike for over a year full time now and I found some small issues with my body.

My main cycling activity is commuting to work and I enjoy it very much. I started commuting in October 2011 and I do it almost every day all year round. There are only occasional days here and there, when I have to travel for the company I work for, but in general I commute 5 days per week. The morning trip is just over 26km long, the return one usually 26 to 40km, as I take various routes on the way home.

My question is how should I look after my body to avoid fatigue and secondly, is there a good way to gain some fitness at the same time? What I mean is, I cycle pretty much in the same constant level of say 60-70% of my poor ability. About 3 - 4 months ago I started to feel somehow flat and my legs felt tired. I stopped taking any weekend rides for the winter and I just kept commuting as usual (strangely, for some reason I enjoy the commuting more than other rides taken locally). I started to reading some articles on the net, etc., where it says that the rest off ride is very important and that some of your rides should be taken very easily. The problem I have is the lack of "discipline", i.e. any time I feel fresh I cycle more enthusiastically by just going a little faster than in the days when my legs are tired.

By looking at my situation, how should I plan my cycling - firstly, should I go by each ride, by weeks, days or months, i.e. should I take the morning ride very easily and go as normal (or harder?) in the evening, or should I cycle one week harder, next week easier, etc? Is there any proper science that can be applied to my situation? What I would like to achieve is to avoid any long time muscle tiredness and also maybe gain some fitness as well. I have never been into any "proper" training (cycling or other sport), so I have not much experience with that sort of things. At present, I just listen to my body and when I feel that I need a break, I just do not push myself hard, avoid heels, etc.

Any comments and suggestions are much appreciated.

Beasty

Not too dissimilar to my commute, although I would probably not have been doing it quite as often.

You'll find yourself feeling stronger earlier in the week and the return commutes may well be easier than the inward ones which will typically be done when it's colder and you are not properly warmed up.

Set yourself some targets - total time taken for the return commute (hopefully negating the effects of the wind to some extent). If you know you have a tailwind, go for a PB time. Look at your total times/average speed over the week and see if you can improve it.

I started off treating every commute as a time trial. Now Strava is around you can target certain segments, looking for PBs for example.

As you get towards the end of the week you'll probably find yourself more in "recovery" mode, particularly if you've been pushing it earlier in the week, and speeds may tend to ease off a bit, but you're still getting the miles in. You'll also find it easier in the summer, when it's warmer, you require less clothing and you're riding in daylight.

I'm into my 4th year of "serious" cycling and only now starting to actively plan my training. I've obviously picked up a lot of tips here, but listening to your body is one that will stand you in good stead. Mix things up a bit to give yourself a bit of variety - sometimes go hard on the hills, on other occasions push it on a flat segment. You could try a PB on the whole commute (tends to work best when you keep an eye on the weather forecast), or alternatively find a few Strava segments with plenty of recovery between and make them into intervals

This way you should hopefully always have something to target, giving an incentive to continue improving and delivering the results

In terms of recovery, I would not typically go out at the weekend if I'd had a hard week commuting. This gives you a weekly recovery period. Some people take a week off every month. I don't, but some weeks are naturally harder than others as I'll often be heading off on business for a few days. But you can usually get away with easing back (in terms of effort but not necessarily distance) perhaps one week a month

Seweryn

Thank you Beasty, sounds really good .

Regarding the weekly average speed, I naturally check it occasionally on my speedo, but since late summer / early autumn, I rather see some dis-improvements, but that is probably due to the winter time and me being in the Tired Zone.

And I may sound strange, but what does the "PB" stands for? Personal Best, I guess ?

Beasty

Yes, PB = Personal Best

My average speeds over winter commutes are perhaps a km or so slower than over the summer months. It also depends on how much cycling you are doing though. If I've done a total of 1,200km in a month I will average less than if I've done 800km. Also if I've done a 40km commute home it will be quite a bit slower than if I take the most direct 22km option

MediaMan

This whole fatigue / lacking energy thing can be tricky to diagnose. For me, getting knackered on the bike (or conversely being able to rattle along), assuming an ok level of overall fitness, comes down to one or more of these things:
- Having enough food energy in the body
- Having enough rest/sleep and not too much drink
- Making sure the muscles aren't fatigued

When I am cycling on odd days, or just doing short or light-effort cycles, I can get away with any or even all of the above being out of whack. But when cycling every day, especially if pushing it, doing hills etc. then I need to get enough sleep, eat healthily and not overstress the muscles or it catches up with me, sometimes in dramatic fashion - as if someone flicked off the power switch.

And the best way to keep muscle fatigue at bay is to go for higher cadence low pressure pedalling.

And as an afterthought - if you are doing additional training, weekend cycles etc., I remember reading in one of the training books that it is very easy to underestimate the additional load that commute cycling can add to your training program even if you are not going high impact on the commute itself.

Seweryn

Beasty wrote: »

Yes, PB = Personal Best

My average speeds over winter commutes are perhaps a km or so slower than over the summer months. It also depends on how much cycling you are doing though. If I've done a total of 1,200km in a month I will average less than if I've done 800km. Also if I've done a 40km commute home it will be quite a bit slower than if I take the most direct 22km option

Quite interestingly, my most direct route is also 22km and a bit, but I stopped ever cycling that route (main N-road).

Secondly, I also noticed that if I cycle less, I can cycle a little faster.

Beasty

I personally don't have an issue however much "fuel" I have on board for these commutes. I don't consume any food or fluids before or even during the morning commute (maybe a bit of water over the summer). If I'm out for up to around 90 mins or so I tend to get along without any problems

The hardest 60 minute sessions I do are on the track in Manchester where there is no taking any water or food unless you stop (which I never do). I'll tend to take 500ml or so of fluid onboard before I start those sessions, but can also manage without it (although that leaves me a bit dehydrated at the end of the session)

I appreciate not everyone's the same on this one though.

Seweryn

Beasty wrote: »

I personally don't have an issue however much "fuel" I have on board for these commutes. I don't consume any food or fluids before or even during the morning commute ...

I also do not drink or eat on my commutes, as the ride is only 50-90 min long. However, I normally have a bowl of porridge every morning before I leave home and I eat something small almost every 1-2 hours at work (an apple, yoghurt, a slice of bread, coffee, tea, etc.). Not sure if it is right or wrong, but before I started commuting, I was consuming a good bit less at work.

Beasty

Seweryn wrote: »

I also do not drink or eat on my commutes, as the ride is only 50-90 min long. However, I normally have a bowl of porridge every morning before I leave home and I eat something small almost every 1-2 hours at work (an apple, yoghurt, a slice of bread, coffee, tea, etc.). Not sure if it is right or wrong, but before I started commuting, I was consuming a good bit less at work.

You're better off with fuel onboard than without - I just can't be bothered and it seems to make very little difference to me over such a short distance. I leave it until after I've showered to have my porridge at work.

Seweryn

Beasty wrote: »

I leave it until after I've showered to have my porridge at work.

That is a non-existing luxury at my work place. But eating after a ride makes sense though.

rp

My new toy, a Polar RCX3, has an interesting feature (well, the web interface does), where it displays "Training Load". I've just started looking at this, and this morning, for the first time, I purposely took in handy coming in to work, to see if it makes a difference - still didn't make it into the "ready to train more" zone, tho...

Lumen

I've gone down the training-load-by-numbers rabbit hole, and in my opinion it's not practical.

Even if you have a power meter, if you're going to properly trust the numbers you have to make sure that your Garmin or whatever is working every single ride, that your power meter is properly calibrated, that you're not varying the amount of non-cycling exercise, and that everything else in your life (sleep, food, general health) is completely stable.

The body has ways of telling you when you're overdoing it, better to learn to listen to and trust those signals.

Bear in mind that although your mileage is high for a commuter, it is very low for a professional (or even serious amateur) racing cyclist, so you are probably capable of handling far more load than you think.

The two most important things for recovery (and therefore fitness) are food (properly timed and constituted) and sleep.

Sean02

As you say Beasty what suits you may not be the best recommendation. Constant drinking of water say, every 10K, in summer more often, whether you feel like it or not has to be hughly benificial. Regarding eating before or after it easier to be looking at it than for it, I like the way the continentals have thier bread and olive oil before sportives and training.

monkeybutter

Seweryn wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I have been on the bike for over a year full time now and I found some small issues with my body.

My main cycling activity is commuting to work and I enjoy it very much. I started commuting in October 2011 and I do it almost every day all year round. There are only occasional days here and there, when I have to travel for the company I work for, but in general I commute 5 days per week. The morning trip is just over 26km long, the return one usually 26 to 40km, as I take various routes on the way home.

My question is how should I look after my body to avoid fatigue and secondly, is there a good way to gain some fitness at the same time? What I mean is, I cycle pretty much in the same constant level of say 60-70% of my poor ability. About 3 - 4 months ago I started to feel somehow flat and my legs felt tired. I stopped taking any weekend rides for the winter and I just kept commuting as usual (strangely, for some reason I enjoy the commuting more than other rides taken locally). I started to reading some articles on the net, etc., where it says that the rest off ride is very important and that some of your rides should be taken very easily. The problem I have is the lack of "discipline", i.e. any time I feel fresh I cycle more enthusiastically by just going a little faster than in the days when my legs are tired.

By looking at my situation, how should I plan my cycling - firstly, should I go by each ride, by weeks, days or months, i.e. should I take the morning ride very easily and go as normal (or harder?) in the evening, or should I cycle one week harder, next week easier, etc? Is there any proper science that can be applied to my situation? What I would like to achieve is to avoid any long time muscle tiredness and also maybe gain some fitness as well. I have never been into any "proper" training (cycling or other sport), so I have not much experience with that sort of things. At present, I just listen to my body and when I feel that I need a break, I just do not push myself hard, avoid heels, etc.

Any comments and suggestions are much appreciated.

If you are only cycling and it's wearing on you, I'd take Wednesday off and doing something else in the evening. I personally think rowing is a good complimentary exercise. Pick something you can push yourself really hard in anyway, while resting your legs at the same time.

So cycle 4 days and do something else 3 days, including the weekend

If you don't have showers at work, then you are hamstrung by this in the morning, so take it steady there, this purely about getting there, I'd definitely drink some water and eat a pretty ripe banana before setting off (quick and easy to digest).

Then on Tuesday and Friday, on the way home, these are free days as such, so push yourself. Do intervals on the way home, maybe push yourself to 90% for 2 mins with breaks in between. Do as many as you are comfortable with, but get your heart rate right up and legs burning.

petethedrummer

Sean02 wrote: »

Constant drinking of water say, every 10K, in summer more often, whether you feel like it or not has to be hughly benificial.

I don't think that's the recommended advice anymore. Some sports scientists are trying to dispel the marketing from the drinks companies.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/part-i-history-of-fluid-intake-and.html
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/fluid-intake-dehydration-and-exercise_18.html
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/fluid-intake-dehydration-and-exercise_21.html

I think there are 5 parts in all.

You can over think these things. I used to associate the tiredness after a tough cycle with being dehydrated, probably conditioned from advertising. Where as its probably just tiredness from having done a big cycle or too many consecutive days of cycling with too little recovery. I'd then be over drinking and p!ssing like a racehorse and still not feeling any better. I think the advice now is to drink when you are thirsty. It's working for me.... I'm exactly as rubbish at cycling as I was with heavy hydration. But trips to the toilet during work have been reduced, which is a positive.

I also stopped drinking sports drinks and instead bring water or a flask of tea on a cold day and stop for a coffee on a long spin.

NeedMoreGears

I generally commute by bike when I need to be in the office. Last year, I averaged 3-4 commutes/week until the last quarter, when I didn't need to travel as much for work. In November/December I was really tired from doing 5 days continually and had no real appetite for going fast or for heading out at the weekend - basically just plodding along in and out of work.

Since the turn of the year I have tried to be more disciplined about not cycling on certain days - basically taking a rest. I take one in four weekends off the bike and make sure the maximum number of commutes in a given week is four - even if that means getting the train (which I really don't like). I feel I have more energy for the bike and I can push hard (for me!) at least one or two of the days using one or two of the others for pure recovery.

Seweryn

Lumen wrote: »

I've gone down the training-load-by-numbers rabbit hole, and in my opinion it's not practical.

Thank you very much.

Any idea of cycling with power meters or any sort of professional equipment is just not for me. I do not train for racing (I do not "train" in the true sense ), I also do not need to hit any seasonal peak in my performance, unless there is a reason for it. I just want to keep going with what I do and get better at it, feel better, stronger, fitter, healthier and not tired . Obviously, over time I would love to improve my speed, power, etc.

Lumen wrote: »

The two most important things for recovery (and therefore fitness) are food (properly timed and constituted) and sleep.

Yeah, I wake up early enough to get to work on time, but usually try to get about 7-8h of sleep. I eat regularly in smaller portions rather than larger meals in one go. I drink rather litte. Not sure if this is wrong, but if I drink more, I just go to the rest room every half an hour and I get "disturbed" at night...

Civilian_Target

I used to do a commute like this for 2-3 years, and I know how you feel. Mine was 26km, but with a really nasty hill climb in the morning (12% climb from sea level to a little over half of Sally Gap, with all my gear). I'm not into racing, and I just wanted to stay healthy and fit.

I think monkeybutter's advice is good. Doing it every day was draining - I found that the commute was taking over my life (8-9 hours of work, 2.5 hours of commute - which requires 7-8 hours of sleep, meant that I didn't have much of a day left for myself!)

I would take at least one day off the commute and take the bus instead, and that would help to get my legs back.

Other things I did, and can recommend:
* Warm up and cool down correctly. The first 15 minutes should be brisk, but you should be just spinning gently rather than pushing the pedals. The last 8-10 minutes should be gentle, followed by a couple of minutes stretching on arrival.
* Eat when you arrive, not before you leave. I found I was less motivated, more bloaty and open to cramps when I ate before leaving. If I was feeling low, I'd eat a little chocolate or a cereal bar before leaving the house. There was a café by work that did a great breakfast when I arrived, and I'd get dinner once I got home
* Don't try and pound out the whole route as fast as you can. Instead, pick 'sprint points', straight bits of road once you've warmed up, where you can crank up to top speed, and hold it for 2-4 minutes. For me, this was mostly determined by traffic lights (and obviously, the climb!) but I would get 4 sprints in the morning, and 3 in the evening.

Also, the right equipment makes a huge difference. Personally, I still swear by the pannier bags and lights I got for that commute.

Seweryn

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

I generally commute by bike when I need to be in the office. Last year, I averaged 3-4 commutes/week until the last quarter, when I didn't need to travel as much for work. In November/December I was really tired from doing 5 days continually and had no real appetite for going fast or for heading out at the weekend - basically just plodding along in and out of work.

Since the turn of the year I have tried to be more disciplined about not cycling on certain days - basically taking a rest. I take one in four weekends off the bike and make sure the maximum number of commutes in a given week is four - even if that means getting the train (which I really don't like). I feel I have more energy for the bike and I can push hard (for me!) at least one or two of the days using one or two of the others for pure recovery.

Thank you, the rest days could be helpful for sure. I have no public transport option though and the car is not always available.

By the way, what distance do you commute on the bike?

Seweryn

Civilian_Target wrote: »

I used to do a commute like this for 2-3 years, and I know how you feel. Mine was 26km, but with a really nasty hill climb in the morning (12% climb from sea level to a little higher than Sally Gap, with all my gear). I'm not into racing, and I just wanted to stay healthy and fit.

I think monkeybutter's advice is good. Doing it every day was draining - I found that the commute was taking over my life (8-9 hours of work, 2.5 hours of commute - which requires 7-8 hours of sleep, meant that I didn't have much of a day left for myself!)

I would take at least one day off the commute and take the bus instead, and that would help to get my legs back.

Other things I did, and can recommend:
* Warm up and cool down correctly. The first 15 minutes should be brisk, but you should be just spinning rather than pushing the pedals. The last 8-10 minutes should be gentle, followed by a couple of minutes stretching on arrival.
* Eat when you arrive, not before you leave. I found I was less motivated, more bloaty and open to cramps when I ate before leaving. If I was feeling low, I'd eat a little chocolate or a cereal bar before leaving the house. There was a café by work that did a great breakfast when I arrived, and I'd get dinner once I got home
* Don't try and pound out the whole route as fast as you can. Instead, pick 'sprint points', straight bits of road once you've warmed up, where you can crank up to top speed, and hold it for 2-4 minutes. For me, this was mostly determined by traffic lights (and obviously, the climb!) but I would get 4 sprints in the morning, and 3 in the evening.

Also, the right equipment makes a huge difference. Personally, I still swear by the pannier bags and lights I got for that commute.

Thank you, sounds very good!

I commute with a saddle bag - can't imaginge having a backpack when on the bike, I would be sweating too much.

chakattack

If you're not cycling as a form of training why not just take the weekends fully off?

2 full consecutive days of rest per week should be loads.

You can ride really easy when you feel tired and go really hard when you feel good.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of chasing good average speeds all the time but if you take the commute really really easy it's probably about 5-10 mins in the difference.

chakattack

Seweryn wrote: »

I just do not push myself hard, avoid heels

Yeah wearing heels probably makes recovery harder

NeedMoreGears

Hi Serwyn,

21km each way.

NMG

Seweryn

chakattack wrote: »

Yeah wearing heels probably makes recovery harder

Hahaha, I knew that spelling looks weird somehow :P.

Seweryn

chakattack wrote: »

If you're not cycling as a form of training why not just take the weekends fully off?

2 full consecutive days of rest per week should be loads.

Well, that is actually what I have been doing for the last couple of months. I stopped going out for weekend spins. But when the summer comes (if it ever comes actually), a nice Saturday ride will be hard to resist .