Advice on muscle fatigue

[Diablos-666]

Last week was my first full week of cycling to and from work every day; circa 22/23km each way.

I started off quite well but by Friday I was really tired, especially on the way home. Didn't do much at the weekend, pretty much just stayed in and watched Le Mans and World Cup footy.

I thought 2 days rest would do me good for another weeks riding. However this morning as soon as I started riding my legs hurt more than ever.

My legs are still hurting now and I'm not really looking forward to the ride home, especially as there are more hills on the way home.

Can anyone offer some advice or do I just cycle through this barrier?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Too much too soon, how much riding did you do before you started commuting?

Commuting is different from "leisure" riding, in that you hammer your body everyday, it takes time to adjust, I would only commute twice a week, then three times, then 4 times etc!!

You also have to pace yourself and not go flat out monday and be dead by Friday!

Drink lots of water through the day

Stick to the lower gears, keep the cadence up and save your legs. On my commuter bike I force myself to stay on the 36 tooth small from ring, it forces me to work on cadence and not rely on mashing a big gear. I end up doing 16-19mph average , which is pretty good for a MTB hybrid , mostly on a 36-12 gear

I find I have to up my food intake, I normally have breakfast + 2/3 big meals a day if I ride everyday of the week and I am still losing weight that I don't really want to to

If it was me I would break into commuting everyday over time, normally I say MTFU n' get on with it, but you risk damaging joints and muscles if you overdo it at first.

[Diablos-666]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Too much too soon, how much riding did you do before you started commuting?

Not much really. The 2 weeks preceeding I cycled into London each Saturday, just to get my bearings and to see how I coped.

I wouldn't say I hammering it, I was managing 22km on the way in to work in just under an hour and on the way home I was doing in a hour and 15. I only really pushed myself when I'm holding people / buses up or going up hill, as I just want it done.

[TwistingMyMelon]

If you haven't cycled much then start riding every day thats what kills the body, you will get used to it though

Most people overdo it at first, then find it too hard, then give up

Start slow..finish fast, I would just do in 3 times a week for a bit then up it to 5, thats what I did

[BMWBen]

Make sure you're eating enough to replace what you're burning. If you have an HRM it will give you an estimate of what you've used.

[SystemParanoia]

I do 40ish km each way 4days a week.

I started in march and have racked up 3000km since then.

I started by driving to work on mon with the bike, then riding home.

Next morning id ride back in then drivr home in the eve.. And so on...

I gradually introduced doing both ways a few days per wk.. And finally we arrive to where i am now. Riding 4 days and driving the 5th (wed).

I agree though i do get slower through the week

And my legs havent stopped aching since i began this folly lol

[okgo]

Aching legs are sadly one of hose things that no matter who you are still come eventually. Foam roller may help. I find it does a good job.

[okgo]

Aching legs are sadly one of hose things that no matter who you are still come eventually. Foam roller may help. I find it does a good job.

[anonymous-user]

Diablos-666 said:

Not much really. The 2 weeks preceeding I cycled into London each Saturday, just to get my bearings and to see how I coped.

I wouldn't say I hammering it, I was managing 22km on the way in to work in just under an hour and on the way home I was doing in a hour and 15. I only really pushed myself when I'm holding people / buses up or going up hill, as I just want it done.

So you've gone from "not much" a week to 220-230km a week.

Yeah, that's going to make your legs ache in the short term. And possibly the medium term too.

If you have a lot of stop/starting, that won't help. Pulling away from a stop generally takes a fair bit more out of you per metre than rolling along at a steady speed.

You will get used to it, but it's going to take it out of you a fair bit first.

Stick at it, but maybe think about three weeks on/one week off to begin with.

[Diablos-666]

Well I rode home last night and felt really strong, my legs didn't ache at all. Also set my fasted time in the process.

Rode in again this morning and although my legs did ache it was no where near as bad as yesterday morning.

I had quite a lot of pasta for lunch yesterday so maybe that helped me? Anyway, it looks like I'll just have to man up and cycle through the pain / ache barrier.

This is my second week of cycling full time and I've already noticed the benefits; I sleep so much better and even though I get up earlier I don't feel as tired in the morning and it's much easier getting up.

Trousers are also feeling a bit looser and I don't feel guilty about eating either. I love my big dinners in the evening. According to Strava I'm burning nearly 1000 calories a day which covers by breakfast and lunch (Banana & for lunch 2 pots of Tesco's finest pasta pots + a bar of chocolate )

Wednesday / Thursday will be tough as I play 5-a-side Wednesday evening and don't get home until about 11pm (I'm normally in the land of nod at this time) Last week was cancelled so this will be my first time cycling and playing footy then getting up early and cycling again.

[upsidedownmark]

Presumably that's called giving them a rest over the weekend - I think you just experienced 'form'

You train, you damage your muscles (microtearing, etc). You rest, they repair, recover and adapt to be stronger.

Recovery is an important part of training - doesn't have to be for days, once you've got 'used' to it, 20-50k/day should be fine, but that's why we taper into races etc, you're looking for that peak that happens after training and recovering, but before you get fat and lazy!

[anonymous-user]

Diablos-666 said:

Trousers are also feeling a bit looser and I don't feel guilty about eating either. I love my big dinners in the evening. According to Strava I'm burning nearly 1000 calories a day which covers by breakfast and lunch (Banana & for lunch 2 pots of Tesco's finest pasta pots + a bar of chocolate )

Your food intake is upside down. Big breakfast (incl slow release carbs, eg porridge), reasonable lunch, and small evening meal. Lots of water throughout the day.