Legs felt rubbish last ride , nothing to give !
Discussion
Hi all , been cycling for 9 months now and been building up the km slowly , some rides I feel like I have no energy in my legs this may last for 4-5 km then seems to be better after and I press on again , but the last ride I did 46km my legs felt pretty rubbish the whole way and it was a real battle to get though it , maybe just a bad day but come home bit peed off , is this normal , do I need to eat more before I ride , drinks , gels tried them all any top tips greatly appreciated
I expect it'll be down to what you've eaten and drank in the days and hours before a bad ride that'll be having the effect. If you're not stocking up the energy stores in those muscles you can easily feel listless and weak.
I demonstrated this point to myself quite adequately the other night. I had a proper tea on Tuesday evening, then worked all night. Went to bed in the morning and spent all afternoon sorting out a family emergency. I went to lift some weights at 3AM on Thursday morning whilst I was on my break. It was about 40hrs since I'd last had a proper meal. I'd only eaten a grapefruit, some biscuits and some Doritos since. I wss dehydrated and my piss nearly melted the porcelain. Although physically, I felt fine at resting/working pace, I had absolutely nothing in my muscles when I was lifting the weights. I could barely muster decent form over half of each set at my usual weight. After a proper breakfast and tea, I was back to normal, or better than normal, the next night.
I demonstrated this point to myself quite adequately the other night. I had a proper tea on Tuesday evening, then worked all night. Went to bed in the morning and spent all afternoon sorting out a family emergency. I went to lift some weights at 3AM on Thursday morning whilst I was on my break. It was about 40hrs since I'd last had a proper meal. I'd only eaten a grapefruit, some biscuits and some Doritos since. I wss dehydrated and my piss nearly melted the porcelain. Although physically, I felt fine at resting/working pace, I had absolutely nothing in my muscles when I was lifting the weights. I could barely muster decent form over half of each set at my usual weight. After a proper breakfast and tea, I was back to normal, or better than normal, the next night.
Disagree with previous posts. If your legs feel heavy from the first pedal stroke the fatigue is much more likely to be to blame. With me it happens very suddenly, I'll be ultra strong for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden my legs give up. If this happens, take a few days off.
I don't know how experienced you are or whether you train with power but if not, then adverse (particularly wind) weather conditions could make a ride feel much harder than it normally does, and of course slow you down significantly.
You body stores well over an hour's worth of muscle glycogen. Any extra pre-ride food you take on will serve to top-up your glycogen stores and therefore have very little impact on performance on rides under an hour.
I would suspect that any recent change in the quality of your diet, unless you have suddenly started living off takeaways and lager, would not cause you to experience such a perceivable drop in performance.
I do agree with comments re dehydration though. Make sure you're drinking enough in the run up to a ride - should be nice and clear when you go to the loo.
A bit of worthless anecdotal evidence - I very often commute 7 miles on an empty stomach and whilst not sufficiently hydrated, and never notice that much difference in performance. I wouldn't dream of heading out for a long ride in this state though.
I don't know how experienced you are or whether you train with power but if not, then adverse (particularly wind) weather conditions could make a ride feel much harder than it normally does, and of course slow you down significantly.
You body stores well over an hour's worth of muscle glycogen. Any extra pre-ride food you take on will serve to top-up your glycogen stores and therefore have very little impact on performance on rides under an hour.
I would suspect that any recent change in the quality of your diet, unless you have suddenly started living off takeaways and lager, would not cause you to experience such a perceivable drop in performance.
I do agree with comments re dehydration though. Make sure you're drinking enough in the run up to a ride - should be nice and clear when you go to the loo.
A bit of worthless anecdotal evidence - I very often commute 7 miles on an empty stomach and whilst not sufficiently hydrated, and never notice that much difference in performance. I wouldn't dream of heading out for a long ride in this state though.
Have you taken any drugs prior? I mean legal ones obviously! I only ask as I was really struggling with my legs and them not really having anything left and constantly getting cramp even though I wasn't out of breath etc. In passing conversation at my last offshore medical I got talking about supplements and gels etc as the doctor was a roadie (I ride mtb). I mentioned the lack of energy and it turned out that the lifetime prescription I am on for reflux/heartburn stops me absorbing nearly all of the magnesium and zinc from my diet. Magnesium deficiencies lead to muscle fatigue so he recommended getting a high strength magnesium and zinc tablet and it's like having new legs. Noticed the difference within a week and I feel stronger and faster than when I was a teenager despite being 36!
neil-935ql said:
Thanks for all your replies I will try and eat and drink more before I go out , currently I am riding 2/3,times a week between 46 and 60km per ride , I guess what confused me is this never really happened before this week , I can normally ride through it . Maybe just getting old !
If I were you, if you haven't recently, I'd have a week off. Drink plenty of water during the week to rehydrate your body and have some rest. Even if it's not over training (which it may or may not be riding that much) it will do you good, give your body time to recover and time to properly rehydrate.I had massively reduced power in my legs around March / April time this year. Even on the slightest incline I had very little which is not like me
Road and MTB riding suffered so knew it had to be me rather than something else.
Just as a precaution I went to the docs for a thorough blood test which came back fine so took two and a bit weeks out. No cycling or spinning but kept up the walking.
During that break I looked at my Strava history and it was the longest I'd not ridden in 2.5 years, guess I was overdue a bit of a break! Not that I'm out every day but 3/4 days a week all year round and generally averaging 80/100 miles a week.
Got back on the bike after that self enforced break and felt great, rode well, even got a few PRs to boot which was nice.
So another vote for maybe just taking some days out of the saddle
Road and MTB riding suffered so knew it had to be me rather than something else.Just as a precaution I went to the docs for a thorough blood test which came back fine so took two and a bit weeks out. No cycling or spinning but kept up the walking.
During that break I looked at my Strava history and it was the longest I'd not ridden in 2.5 years, guess I was overdue a bit of a break! Not that I'm out every day but 3/4 days a week all year round and generally averaging 80/100 miles a week.
Got back on the bike after that self enforced break and felt great, rode well, even got a few PRs to boot which was nice.
So another vote for maybe just taking some days out of the saddle
I'll echo the stretching comment. I'm really bad for not stretching off properly, and suffer for it on following rides.
This morning I was so bad that I turned a "TORQ Lap PR attempt" into a "trail maintenance ride". I had so little to give that it became clear in the first mile of the eight and a bit of the lap that I wasn't going to manage a decent run. Far better use of my time to spin slowly between obstructions and get them shifted so that others could get a clear run at it.
I'd felt good when I left the house. Sprinting from a cold start wasn't a great opener though. I was late meeting a 7.15am ride partner, and I convinced myself I'd surely hit a new PR on a couple of sections on the way to the meeting point. No dice, just one '3rd best time' on the whole damned ride.
Reason? I think it was because I'd spent a long day in the sun at the Duxford air show, not eaten all afternoon (cooked breakfast at 7am, then an egg mayo sandwich at 10pm), not got home until 10pm after a two hour drive home, and not had any breakfast this morning. Dehydrated too, so not exactly great preparation, but I'd promised to ride so I did. I'm afraid that today's meals have been similarly erratic and tomorrow I'm out for the day in the sunshine again. It seems that not riding is not exactly resting for me. Too much driving and walking, with irregular meals and insufficient fluids seems to be the order of the day. All the strength in my legs has certainly deserted me. Hopefully it's just temporary...
This morning I was so bad that I turned a "TORQ Lap PR attempt" into a "trail maintenance ride". I had so little to give that it became clear in the first mile of the eight and a bit of the lap that I wasn't going to manage a decent run. Far better use of my time to spin slowly between obstructions and get them shifted so that others could get a clear run at it.
I'd felt good when I left the house. Sprinting from a cold start wasn't a great opener though. I was late meeting a 7.15am ride partner, and I convinced myself I'd surely hit a new PR on a couple of sections on the way to the meeting point. No dice, just one '3rd best time' on the whole damned ride.
Reason? I think it was because I'd spent a long day in the sun at the Duxford air show, not eaten all afternoon (cooked breakfast at 7am, then an egg mayo sandwich at 10pm), not got home until 10pm after a two hour drive home, and not had any breakfast this morning. Dehydrated too, so not exactly great preparation, but I'd promised to ride so I did. I'm afraid that today's meals have been similarly erratic and tomorrow I'm out for the day in the sunshine again. It seems that not riding is not exactly resting for me. Too much driving and walking, with irregular meals and insufficient fluids seems to be the order of the day. All the strength in my legs has certainly deserted me. Hopefully it's just temporary...
All of the above suggestions are good, nutrition, too much riding. I'm not a hippy but I also think there are such things as biorhythms or at least a male hormonal cycle. Sometimes you just have an empty legs day. You feel like you can't be arsed before a ride, it doesn't fade away a few kms in like it normally does and your legs feel even worse afterwards. It never lasts long though, just do some easier more fun rides that you'll enjoy for a couple of days and it'll pass.
Alternatively, buy yourself some new bike gear, something that'll make your bike lighter or more aero, never underestimate the power of new component confidence, worth 25W at least.
Alternatively, buy yourself some new bike gear, something that'll make your bike lighter or more aero, never underestimate the power of new component confidence, worth 25W at least.
Bungleaio said:
I'm pretty new to this and far from being an expert but I find mixing the cycling up with some swimming helps my legs.
I find this as well, Ive got my first ironman at the weekend and part of my training has been a long ride on saturday followed by a 40mile ride on sunday to the lake to swim, before the lake my legs are a mess!! After the swim they are fine and I feel like I can keep cycling.Not sure if its the swimming or the cold water on the legs, probably a bit of both.
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