Keeping the legs fresh

Hey,

I'm looking for some advice. I started cycling to work about a month ago. It's not very far about 8.5km each way & I'm not terribly unfit (played rugby until recently). I've been finding lately that despite having more in the tank my legs are knackered later on in the week & the morning cycle is a struggle.

Has anyone any advice on how I can stop/lessen this? My diet is fairly good & I'm not sure I'm doing enough to justify taking protein to help recovery.

Thanks

Inquitus

Don't ride as hard, or just ignore it and over time it will go away.

thebouldwhacker

Tell them to shut up.

Raam

Possibly you are pushing too big a gear.

Jabel

Deleted User wrote: »

Hey,

I'm looking for some advice. I started cycling to work about a month ago. It's not very far about 8.5km each way & I'm not terribly unfit (played rugby until recently). I've been finding lately that despite having more in the tank my legs are knackered later on in the week & the morning cycle is a struggle.

Has anyone any advice on how I can stop/lessen this? My diet is fairly good & I'm not sure I'm doing enough to justify taking protein to help recovery.

Thanks

Stop cycling with the brakes on!:eek:
Seriously though, stick with it, it will become easier as you go along, nothing better than this time of year to be out on the bike

ford2600

What snake told you it would get easier!

TBH the first few km whether a very long or handy spin are rarely easy. It's just your body saying not this **** again, until you warm up.

You will get stronger and have a look at what @raam said about too high a gear

.ak

Foam roller and stretching.

Thanks, I've heard foam rolling is supposed to be good so I'll look into that. Otherwise I'll just crack on & hope it sorts itself out

Darkglasses

Getting enough sleep is an important one too. Trying to cycle after a bad night is a killer for me.

Darkglasses

Darkglasses wrote: »

Getting enough sleep is an important one too. Trying to cycle after a bad night is a killer for me.

Yeah I've noticed if I've had a rough night the legs usually don't respond at all the next day!

Seaneh

Hydration and nutrition are essential. Make sure you are regularly taking small sips of water as you go. Stick a banana in your back pocket incase you start feeling tired.

And make sure when you are not "mashing" the cranks as you are pedaling. More revolution at a lower effort will be less tiring than less revolutions st a higher effort.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I'm training for Mizen/Malin later in the year and have been out every evening for 30km spins for the last 3 weeks almost, I find that stretching afterwards helps keep my kegs from feeling sore the following day, grant it I'm cycling at near peak ability each evening. It is getting easier and I find most days My legs are fine the next morning but somedays they do feel a little stiff. I find the first 4 or 5km hard work every evening too and as your only cycling a short distance your possibly not getting to warm up properly before you arrive at work. Stretching before and afterwards should help.

Seaneh

Seaneh wrote: »

More revolution at a lower effort will be less tiring than less revolutions st a higher effort.

OK this makes, I had it in my head that I was just wasting energy for less return in the lower gears.

CJC999

CJC999 wrote: »

I'm training for Mizen/Malin later in the year and have been out every evening for 30km spins for the last 3 weeks almost, I find that stretching afterwards helps keep my kegs from feeling sore the following day, grant it I'm cycling at near peak ability each evening. It is getting easier and I find most days My legs are fine the next morning but somedays they do feel a little stiff. I find the first 4 or 5km hard work every evening too and as your only cycling a short distance your possibly not getting to warm up properly before you arrive at work. Stretching before and afterwards should help.

Fair play to ya! I'm actually surprised how much I'm enjoying cycling & have considered going for longer cycles at the weekend but I've been worried the legs won't respond well come Monday.

Seaneh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

OK this makes, I had it in my head that I was just wasting energy for less return in the lower gears.

Think of it like doing weights, you could do repetitions of 5kg on a bench all day and not get tired but 20kg would be effort and 50 would tire you out very quickly.

It is less return per revolution but you get more revolutions per minute so it balances out and you dont get tired as quickly. Your hardest gears are for too speed like going down hills or sprinting short distances, if you're just tipping along to work you should be somewhere in the middle of your rear gears and on the middle chain ring in the front.

thejaguar

I do about 10k in & out to work every day. I always have 1 or 2 trips during the week that I feel a bit tired.
When I do, I just take it down a couple of gears and try not to race every cyclist, car, bus, dog, lamp post, imaginary tour de france peloton.......

Unknown Soldier

After 3 or 4 months I thought having sore thighs was par for the course. Especially post cycle and three flights of stairs.

When I looked Into basic bike fittings via YouTube 90% went away over night.

Bloggsie

Solid advice in regards to stretching & gear ratios, I have found that a proper bike fit helped, also I take High5 Zero Electrolyte Tablets which I get from my LBS but are also available on the tinernet from chainreaction or wiggle. I found that when I wasnt taking them my legs were cramping quite badly while still out & after I finished. Since I started taking them I havent cramped once either during or after a spin (normally 45 plus kms)
Finally a hot bath with epsom salts also can help with sore or tired legs.
Happy trails.

Welshkev

Seaneh wrote: »

And make sure when you are not "mashing" the cranks as you are pedaling. More revolution at a lower effort will be less tiring than less revolutions st a higher effort.

This

Darkglasses

I don't think you need to worry much about eating or drinking electrolytes on the bike in a 8.5km ride. A bottle of normal water is plenty. As long as you look after your health generally, it should become part of your routine quickly enough.

codie

Deleted User wrote: »

Fair play to ya! I'm actually surprised how much I'm enjoying cycling & have considered going for longer cycles at the weekend but I've been worried the legs won't respond well come Monday.

Do a few circuits first that are near enough your house,its easy just to spin nice and handy home if your goosed or else just keep going if the legs are willing

Bloggsie

Bloggsie wrote: »

Solid advice in regards to stretching & gear ratios, I have found that a proper bike fit helped, also I take High5 Zero Electrolyte Tablets which I get from my LBS but are also available on the tinernet from chainreaction or wiggle. I found that when I wasnt taking them my legs were cramping quite badly while still out & after I finished. Since I started taking them I havent cramped once either during or after a spin (normally 45 plus kms)
Finally a hot bath with epsom salts also can help with sore or tired legs.
Happy trails.

I've a load of prework out & electrolyte stuff at home from when I was training a few times a week & playing a match as well. I don't think I'd be doing enough on the bike to justify taking it in the mornings.

Seaneh

Deleted User wrote: »

I've a load of prework out & electrolyte stuff at home from when I was training a few times a week & playing a match as well. I don't think I'd be doing enough on the bike to justify taking it in the mornings.

I didn't realise you were only doing 8.5km each way, ignore my banana advice but stick a water bottle in your cage anyway, always better to not need it and be looking at it than need it and be looking for it.

Just make sure you eat a decent breakfast before you head out and have something for lunch, maybe a quick banana or apple before jumping back on the bike for the spin home too to be safe at the start.

george costanza is god

I have a similar issue myself. Cycling from Glasnevin to Ranelagh and back every day. I find there's a tendency to try to cycle fast and hard, because I'm motivated by the fact that I have to get to work. However, and I don't know if this will help you or not, but I've found that if I leave a bit earlier then I'm not in as much as a rush, which means I cycle easier and it has had a bit of an impact. Time will tell if it gets easier in the long term. Hope that helps

Seaneh

Oh another thing.

I was told when I started rod cycling a few years back "it never gets easy, you just get faster" which is pretty much true, you will never find it easy but you will be more comfortable in the saddle for longer periods and you will gradually get faster and faster until you plateau.

A few good pieces of advice so far. I do try and push myself to be faster everyday, my goal is do be doing the morning 8.5km in 25 mins or less (no idea if that's realistic, fast, slow or whatever but it's giving me something to aim for & keep in mind when the legs get heavy). I've done some googling around spinning vs mashing & I'm definitely mashing so I'm gonna try spinning tomorrow morning to see how I get on.

carltonleon

Sometimes it does also be in your head.
What I mean by that is there are days when I am getting my gear ready for work and then getting my gear ready for the cycle and then gear for a shower in work etc etc that I just don't feel like it.
These tend too be the days that I feel tired on the bike but I actually am not tired really as my average speed and time etc is pretty much the same as when I felt fresh. What happens I think is that I start on the cycle in a negative frame of mind and that translates to seemingly feeling tired but as I said my averages are the same, so some of it is definitely in the head.

Seaneh

Deleted User wrote: »

A few good pieces of advice so far. I do try and push myself to be faster everyday, my goal is do be doing the morning 8.5km in 25 mins or less (no idea if that's realistic, fast, slow or whatever but it's giving me something to aim for & keep in mind when the legs get heavy). I've done some googling around spinning vs mashing & I'm definitely mashing so I'm gonna try spinning tomorrow morning to see how I get on.

You should be able to hold a nice steady rpm without feeling like there is no resistance but at the same time without feeling you are pushing hard, might take a while to find your "sweet spot" and adjust to the faster revolutions but once you find your sweet spot (the gear you feel most comfortable cruising in on the flat) it makes life easier.

carltonleon

carltonleon wrote: »

Sometimes it does also be in your head.
What I mean by that is there are days when I am getting my gear ready for work and then getting my gear ready for the cycle and then gear for a shower in work etc etc that I just don't feel like it.
These tend too be the days that I feel tired on the bike but I actually am not tired really as my average speed and time etc is pretty much the same as when I felt fresh. What happens I think is that I start on the cycle in a negative frame of mind and that translates to seemingly feeling tired but as I said my averages are the same, so some of it is definitely in the head.

It's a possibility alright, like yourself my times never vary much, a minute or 2 each way.

outfox

Try drinking more water, including when off the bike. The muscles love it, for some reason.

idiottje

Empty leg syndrome. I get it from time to time. I cycle from Belfield to Lucan. Legs turning, but just the feeling of no power. Like people have said above, for me personally I found through trial, error, reading here and the Sheldon Browne page the following helped me. I found this handy not only on the commute, but at weekends also.

Bike Fit. Saddle height and position, if using clipless pedals, the location of the clips on the sole of your shoe. Handle bar width, and height, and distance from the saddle. Youtube is a great source of showing you how to sort this out to be in the rough area.

Pedal Spinning as opposed to Crank Pushing. I can actually go faster in a slightly lower gear than over pushing the crank on the flat.

Hydration. This made a huge difference to me! An hour and a half before I head, I start drinking water. Just lots of sips over an hour. Bring water with you.

Eat something. I usually eat something an hour before I go out. I am off refined sugars, so I usually go for a banana. However, before I did this, I found a bag of Jelly Beans, or Wine Gums when out was great. It really did make a huge difference, but I have a sweet tooth, so I usually over did it! Cake, Christmas Cake in particular is fantastic, but I am off that also

So just a quick update, I've tried cycling in lower gears the last 2 mornings. It's added a few minutes to the morning cycle but generally the legs aren't suffering as much.

So just a quick update, I've tried cycling in lower gears the last 2 mornings. It's added a few minutes to the morning cycle but generally the legs aren't suffering as much. Thanks for all the advice/tips

fixie fox

As a guy transferring from competitive field sport to cycling you are probably going much too hard in too high a gear. You can see the out especially in the spring evenings -'rocking and grinding a big hear.
Take it easy and relax - like walking - and spin a low gear. Try not to be competitive with yourself.

quozl

Or get a cheap bike computer with cadence and set a decent cadence (90+) as a goal if you like having something to target.

Once your cadence improves you won't be going slower for being in a low gear. I've no trouble doing club spins in the small ring apart from significant descents.

george costanza is god

fixie fox wrote: »

As a guy transferring from competitive field sport to cycling you are probably going much too hard in too high a gear. You can see the out especially in the spring evenings -'rocking and grinding a big hear.
Take it easy and relax - like walking - and spin a low gear. Try not to be competitive with yourself.

Definitely agree with this. My girlfriend just got back cycling yesterday, having not been on a bike in 14 years. It was a hilarious spectacle but I had to stop her a few times from trying TOO hard. Nice and easy does it. That's what I think anyway.

Seaneh

george costanza is god wrote: »

Definitely agree with this. My girlfriend just got back cycling yesterday, having not been on a bike in 14 years. It was a hilarious spectacle but I had to stop her a few times from trying TOO hard. Nice and easy does it. That's what I think anyway.

I'd agree. Anytime I get back on the bike after a break I leave my computer at home and don't turn on strava so as I'm not worried about my times. Take it easy but try to go as fast as I comfortably can. Yeah I'm going slower than U could and probably adds 5-7 minutes to my over all speed over a 30km course but I'll be able to hop back up on the bike tomorrow and not be stiff because of it. Within 3-4 days I feel comfortable enough to push speedwise again and start hammering out times I'd consider good.

Zillah

I could go in a lower gear but then the other cyclists might beat me and then I don't know what I would do.

Zillah

Zillah wrote: »

I could go in a lower gear but then the other cyclists might beat me and then I don't know what I would do.

The times not really an issue, I just see it as something to aim for & a way to measure improvement

pelevin

Zillah wrote: »

I could go in a lower gear but then the other cyclists might beat me and then I don't know what I would do.

You'd have to give up in shame.

pprendeville

Seaneh wrote: »

Hydration and nutrition are essential. Make sure you are regularly taking small sips of water as you go. Stick a banana in your back pocket incase you start feeling tired.

And make sure when you are not "mashing" the cranks as you are pedaling. More revolution at a lower effort will be less tiring than less revolutions st a higher effort.

If it's only 8.5km one way, I don't think there's any need for food on the ride, just make sure you have a decent breakfast. Try avoiding cereals which cause an insulin spike and opt for higher protein (steamed eggs with a dash of milk, pinch of salt and some grated cheese are good and easy to make) or a low GI carb based food.

Seaneh

pprendeville wrote: »

If it's only 8.5km one way, I don't think there's any need for food on the ride, just make sure you have a decent breakfast. Try avoiding cereals which cause an insulin spike and opt for higher protein (steamed eggs with a dash of milk, pinch of salt and some grated cheese are good and easy to make) or a low GI carb based food.

I posted the same advice 12 posts after the one you quoted.