Sudden tiredness during rides

D13exile

Hi all

For the past 4 weeks, I've gotten up at 6am for a 30km spin before work 6 days a week. On the plus side, my average speed has increased from 24kph to 28kph in just one month. However it could be better as I suffer flat spots during the spins when my legs just die and my speed drops right off. I don't eat before or during these short spins and so I thought it was just my glucose reserves being exhausted and my body switching to burning fat. However the flat spots go away and my speed picks up to 28-30kph again like I never had the dead legs. It's getting annoying as I know I'd be averaging close to 30kph now if it wasn't for the few minutes of dead legs. I know I could eat before and during the spin but I've read that it's good conditioning to not eat so your body learns to burn fat and to lose weight.

So do I just have to put up with the dead legs or will I learn to plough through the flat zones?

monkeyslayer

Although 30kms isn't a lot, doing it six days a week is a lot of leg work. I'd suggest taking a bit more rest, or at least mix it up with some slow days. Your legs are tired.

stecleary

same route and flat spots all the time?

ED E

If you're going for all anabolic I'd try going high cadence for 90 secs or so when you start to feel yourself waining.

D13exile

monkeyslayer wrote: »

Although 30kms isn't a lot, doing it six days a week is a lot of leg work. I'd suggest taking a bit more rest, or at least mix it up with some slow days. Your legs are tired.

I was cycling to and from work twice a week and that's a 80km round trip but I thought I'd try the more regular short spins. Same mileage overall but more regular cycling. The daily spins have really brought my speed up in a short space of time as I had plateaued at 24kph. It's just the sudden onset of tiredness that gets me every spin. It's like "hitting the wall" in a marathon as suddenly there's nothing left in my legs.

stecleary wrote: »

same route and flat spots all the time?

I vary the route day to day so it doesn't get boring. The dead legs usually hit around the 20km mark no last for a few Kms but then I get through the dead zone and get motoring again.

ED E wrote: »

If you're going for all anabolic I'd try going high cadence for 90 secs or so when you start to feel yourself waining.

So I drop the gears and spin the legs to wash out the junk in my legs?

I'm new to the training aspect of cycling as up to now I was happy to just cover longer distances at a slowish rate of 23kph but now that I've upped my speed, I'm discovering this dead leg syndrome. I'm just wondering if it's mental or physical and if I'll push through it or plateau again without hitting my goal of averaging 30kph or more.

Exiled1

Doesn't make sense to avoid eating. You should eat something about every 20 minutes, a jaffa cake/fig roll etc. Certainly do not go out on an empty stomach.

Buzwaldo

My understanding of going for fasted spins was that you did it at a moderate intensity for most benefit, rather than trying to go hard.
Good thread here
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057564401/1/#post98820418

iwillhtfu

Buzwaldo wrote: »

My understanding of going for fasted spins was that you did it at a moderate intensity for most benefit, rather than trying to go hard.
Good thread here
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057564401/1/#post98820418

Absolutely. Fasted spins are meant to be treated as endurance spins and done at a leisurely pace.

OP you're watching average speed where you should be watching heart rate or power out put.

Weekend spins should be used to see improvements.

Some good info on fasted cardio here.

https://www.bornfitness.com/understanding-fasted-cardio-fat-loss/

py

First of all, congrats on getting out on the bike, it's a really great past time.

iwillhtfu wrote: »

OP you're watching average speed where you should be watching heart rate or power out put.

This. It's all about managing your recovery. If you don't have access to a heart rate monitor or a power meter then try the following. If you're going hard on Monday, do a leisurely pace for the next 2 days and then follow this again for your next 3 days. Do this for about a month and then try do 1 day hard and then 1 day leisurely.

I'd have originally done similar efforts to you but have found my cycling fitness has improved much more by working in either full rest days or recovery rides.

If you have questions, just shout.

Lumen

I don't think there is any sport where training is properly done at constant hard effort.

D13exile

Thanks for the input and advice guys. I guess I need to leave the phone at home as I gave this little voice telling me my current speed, average speed, and distance every kilometre. It's like having an electronic coach in my ear pushing me on. I feel like it's been a wasted effort if I don't average above 28kph these days even though I couldn't even break 25kph just four weeks ago. From what you're saying, I think I need to go hard one day with two more leisurely and phone less days and repeat? As for rest days, well I love getting out on the bike and it sets me up nicely for the day. I'm a grumpy **** if I miss out on my early morning spin.

diomed

I don't cycle now.
A few years ago I cycled every day for a month, with a max spin of 35 kms.
After a few weeks I had difficulty doing 10 kms and at only about 20 kms/hr (usually about 24 kms/hr, I'm in my late 60s).
My guess is you would do better if you took food (as mentioned above), didn't cycle more than two days in a row, and don't bother about numbers, just feel how you are going.

D13exile

I'm nearly 50 myself but I want to stay in good shape. I ran for years but my joints started to protest so I switched to cycling. A couple of 80km commutes to work each week wasn't helping me progress which is why I switched to doing 30km spins each morning. While it's brought my speed up and helped me shed some weight, the sudden onset of tiredness did cause me some concern, enough to go for a blood test but that came back fine. Guess I need to accept that perhaps age might be a factor and that I need to stop seeing every spin as a time trial.

Lumen

It's nothing to do with age, the advice would be the same for a junior.

There are different aspects to cycling performance that benefit from different stimuli.

Most uncoached cyclists train at an intensity which is both too hard and too easy. This is ineffective.

sullzz

Sounds like youre not warming up , like as if youre hopping on the bike and riding hard from the start , you need to gradually bring your heart rate up . 10 mins warm up should help you .

Chuchote

Would you think of having a small breakfast before going out - grated carrot salad, slice or two of brown toast, banana (others will give more targeted and expert nutritional advice), and bringing a bottle of khefir with you (Dunnes, €3ish) to take the odd slug of?

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/does-it-work-can-kefir-boost-energy-levels-1.602498

Maybe your body is talking to you. I'd guess it's saying "Hey, you, I'm carrying you through this beautiful landscape; wouldja mind taking a break so I can have a look at it and enjoy it for five minutes, just? Fair's fair."

D13exile

I turned off the voice feedback on the phone this morning and did my usual 30kms blissfully unaware of how fast/slow I was going. Averaged 25.6kph on a windy morning. Started off slowish (22kph) for about 5 minutes and picked it up after that. I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard. Not saying my legs weren't a bit tired towards the end but didn't have any flat spots. I'll try a healthy snack before the spins in future to see if that helps too.

Might be holding my hand out for a slap here but I don't bring a drink on my hour long spins in the morning. I drink about a half litre of water before I head out but nothing on the ride as it's just an hour or so. Another possible cause of fatigue?

PaulieC

D13exile wrote: »

Might be holding my hand out for a slap here but I don't bring a drink on my hour long spins in the morning. I drink about a half litre of water before I head out but nothing on the ride as it's just an hour or so. Another possible cause of fatigue?

No. You don't need either food or water for a spin of less than 90 mins.

T-Maxx

PaulieC wrote:

No. You don't need either food or water for a spin of less than 90 mins.

Food no, water always

RobFowl

Mmmm Sudden tiredness during increased efforts....

Welcome to cycling, the supreme leveller

nordicb

Just a thought, you may be getting less aggressive, tense, more efficient or relaxed after you have flat spot, this, perhaps, equates to a better average speed in the end.

In other sport, my coach once had asked me to do a double session to deliberately exhaust me in order to loosen tension in the body. I remember my power was lower, yet I was moving faster and had a better feel.

Harrybelafonte

Exiled1 wrote: »

Doesn't make sense to avoid eating. You should eat something about every 20 minutes, a jaffa cake/fig roll etc. Certainly do not go out on an empty stomach.

This is the ultimate in Fred advice.